


You've never done it right.

by silver_moon_howler



Series: Error 101: Fucks not found [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF T'Challa (Marvel), Bisexual Sam Wilson, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, F/F, F/M, Frenemies Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson, Gen, Hurt Vision (Marvel), Hurt Wanda Maximoff, Like they dont even touch pinkies until chapter eight or nine maybe, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Minor Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Multi, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Parent Stephen Strange, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Peter Parker, Protective T'Challa (Marvel), Sam Wilson is a Gift, Sam Wilson is a Saint, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-06-28 06:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 25,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19806682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_moon_howler/pseuds/silver_moon_howler
Summary: So basically everything up until the beginning of this story is right. So everything is the same until Steve's pretentious ass decides to send a later with a secret code in it to piss Tony off 'cause he's sure Tony will never crack it.But of course he's Tony, so he does. And being a good person he doesn't turn it in. But Rhodes is still pissed at Cap for putting Tony through everything he did. So he reports it to the Accords council and sits back and let's the chaos roll.





	1. Chapter one

He didn't understand how a letter was supposed to make it all better. But somehow it does for all the wrong reasons. 

The anger Tony felt when he woke up in a small hospital bed was indescribable. Outside the Russian landscape stretched across his window, a breather covered his face and his ribs felt like glass had been funneled down his throat and hammered in with a bag full of coins. His eyes hurt under the harsh hospital light, he almost let himself slip back into a haze sleep until he heard someone speak.  
"You're lucky you weren't the only one out there." His eyes rolled to the side of his bed to see T'challa standing over the bed smiling coldly at the bed, "You were not a man I respected, Tony. You were always too arrogant when it came to your abilities, I thought I had you figured out."  
'Gee, thanks', Tony thought to himself. 

"But signing the accords was the last thing I expect you to do. And Steve being the one to break it still surprises me even now." He shook his head huffing out a laugh, "I don't think I will ever understand you Americans." Tony let out a loud rasping noise in the back of his throat that sounded like a coffin top being opened from the inside. 

"Steve didn't tell me what happened. Sergeant Barnes was not kind enough to disclose any information either. But no one deserves to be beaten this badly." His eyes crawled over Tony's chest a look of dry pity frozen on his face. Tony wheezed out again and his hand twitched at his side. And suddenly the light dimmed, Tony's head lolled back and fell back asleep. 

The next time Tony woke up Happy was leaning over him sleep sticking to his eyes. When Tony let out a harsh wheeze Happy practically jump out of his skin, scrambling to get closer to Tony.  
"Tony! You're awake!" He stood up his eyes never leaving Tony,  
"Hey! We need some help in here." Tony wheezed out another small sigh of pain, he clenched his fist. Doctors and nurses swarmed him sticking needles in his arms, prodding at the pain in his chest, pulling on him asking if he felt that and if he could hear them. He could in fact hear but that didn't mean he wanted to hear them.  
"Heart rates rising," Happy was pushing through the crowd of surgeons crying out,  
"I'm his body gaurd, let me through." The nurses were getting more and more persistent and Tony felt like he was being eaten alive, starting in his chest and ending at the end of his fingers and toes. He looked to his left and saw the vast New York landscape looming over him like a disappointed parent. Tony would be laughing if his heart didn't hurt, he knew disappointed parents. Like his father this one was mad that Tony came back and the other didn't. Why was it always Captain America before him he thought glumly. 

The next time Tony woke up he was in Avengers compound staring out at the grassy lawn. 

Seven broken ribs, three puncture holes in his longs, two sprained wrists, one dislocated shoulder and a minor concussion that caused him to see spots if he stood up faster than normal. And he had been asleep for fourteen days, Tony hadn't ever slept so much in his life, between popping medications and talking feebly to Happy, who avoided any questions that didn't pertain to his own injuries. 

One night Tony snapped, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He yanked the IV cords from his arms and stormed out of his room demanding to see Rhodey.  
"If you won't tell me where he is I'll figure out myself!" The poor on site nurse stared at him terrified, despite that fact that Tony was barely skin on a skeleton and his body shook like someone had injected coffee into his IV.  
"Tony! Stop yelling at that poor woman you're going to pull your stiches." Tony whirled around to face Pepper his face falling instantly, "Hey, Pep-Pepper, how are you?" 

Pepper glared at him coldly her face tight with a pained bitter anger.  
"Go sit down." Tony trudged back to his room, his heart palpitating with pain and anger. Pepper followed behind him, closing the door softly behind her. Pepper cocked her head toward the ceiling, her lips pursed,  
"FRIDAY, pull up surveillance footage from Germany.'  
'Right away Ms. Potts." 

From the ceiling a video of the Avengers charging towards each other projected onto Tony's lap. A close up of Peter sitting to the left and Steve to his right.  
"What the hell were you thinking!" Tony stayed silent, he could never tell at Pepper. "Whay the hell", she seethed, "FRIDAY, identity the masked vigilante."  
'Spiderman- Peter Parker aged sixteen, resident of-",  
"Okay, okay, Fri', we get. Thank you," Tony yelled. 

Pepper ground her teeth, running a hand through her hair,  
"I just don't know what to do, Tony." She shook her head covering her eyes, "I don't understand how- how you could just do that." 

She shook her head,  
"I thought the accords would help us-",  
"And it will, I swear. This means I don't have to be there for the Avengers, it's going to be impossible to pull me back in so easily now. I see that now, we were the problem, I-my suit was the problem and your right", Pepper opened her mouth to speak, "No, your right", Tony insisted. 

Pepper looked down at her lap saddely, she smiled shaking her head, "and this isn't some excuse to get me back?"  
'Why would I lie about something like that when I know this means so much to you', Tony thought to himself. Instead he smiled and reached out to hold her hand, his voice hoarse, "I would never", Pepper clicked her tongue smiling, "Aww, To-",  
"But I do need to know where my Rhodes is, Pep', you can't do that to a man, hang him out to dry, I need to know." 

Pepper huffed out a laugh as she licked her lips in thought.  
"Tell you what, you go to sleep and I'll tell you where Rhodes is."  
"No, no, no," Tony insisted, "I've done nothing but sleep since you found me, I need to know where my Rhodey is." Pepper smiled leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek, "You can see him when he wakes up." 

Rhodes had lost full control of his legs. That had been the state Tony had left him in but since than he hadn't been able to sit down and help him. His legs quivered when he tried to move them, his body fell into aches and pains when he touched the skin or brushed it against anything. Apparently Rhodes had woke up q couple days before Tony had. 

He had been in physical therapy since than. The first time Tony saw Rhodes hobbling around the training room with an assistant holding him up by his arm puts Tony locked himself in his work shop to build something, anything to help him. 

Which was how he ended up walking alongside Rhodey, holding him up as the mechanics whirred with each step. And that was how he ended up being so close to Rhodey when receiving the package. 

Tony didn't understand how a letter was supposed to make it all better. But somehow it does for all the wrong reasons.


	2. Chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Steve is a little shit. Scott is a sweetheart. And Clint actually cares about his families.

Steve sat down in front of a piece of paper. He hadn't planned it but words kept spilling out of his head and from his mouth to the point where Sam kept giving him dirty looks everytime he brought up Tony.   
"Dude, we're AWOL, we don't need to talk about him anymore." But Steve wanted to talk about him, he wanted to talk about how Stark was wrong and Stark needed to understand how wrong he was. A small part of him felt a guilty glee that thrilled every time he thought of Stark all alone, when he, Captain America, had all these people willing to do things for him. 

So he sat down with piece of paper and wrote down everything he wanted to say since Siberia, and then he looked up at his room. How had he gotten here again? 

There had been six of them. After Siberia it became two. And then Widow found them, two was there until she gave them the rafts location. It was equal parts thrilling and terrifying breaking in like that, the thrum of adrenaline in his veins that came from a fight, that popped and bubbled on his skin like acid. But ever other soldier he knocked down, who looked at him like it was the biggest betrayal of their lives was like opening an empty gift. It made him think of every other Hydra foot men who he knocked out and down, they thought what they were doing was right. They truly believe it. 

But seeing all of them trapped like that, Wanda especially with her arms pinned to her chest and mouth bound like an untamed dog. She was just a kid and her eyes swam with drugs. He bit back the anger in his throat. Three was six for the shortest while, but Clint wouldn't go with them.   
"No, man, that's your deal. I-I have kids, I can't just...", he sighed, "I'm taking a plea deal. You can't stop me, I want to be with my wife and kids, I shouldn't have but in, this was stupid. I'm retired! I'm married, I can't just keep doing this." He motioned towards the cell frowning, "I love them with my everything, they didn't deserve this, I should have thunk it through." He chuckled to himself before looking at his knees smiling saddely. 

"Is that you talking or Stark," Steve asked quietly.   
"I sure hope it's me, otherwise I'd be the biggest asshole ever."   
"Yeah, hey, I second that", everyone turned to face Scott, "I can't just leave my Cassie like this, not again. Also, I kind of stole my girlfriend's suit- the shrinking one, that-thay was hers-",   
"You were wearing your girlfriends stuff to go fight with the Avengers?" Sam asked, laughing, "Damn Tic-tac."   
"It wasn't hers exactly it was more of her Dads, he used to wear this-",   
"You're wearing your girlfriend's, Dad's hand me down," Natasha asked tartly. 

"No!" Scott cried out, "I don't even know if she's my girlfriend anymore-Listen, the point is, I have a daughter, I'm not running off just because some billionaire insulted me. No offence Mr. Captain America, sir." Bucky looked up at Natasha shaking his head,   
"Who is this idiot anyway?' His word came out bitter like vodka and garbled like smoke as he spoke softly in Russian. Nat shrugged responding back fluently, "I don't know, Falcon said they knew each other." 

At that Sam walked forward hugging Scott,   
"That's great man, you go on and take care of yourself Tic-tac. Call us if you need anything." He turned back to stand next to Bucky ignoring Scott's muttering on how can he contact them, he doesn't have their number. 

Natasha walked up to Clint and held him tight smiling saddely,   
"Tell Nathaniel I love him, tell all of them I love them." Clint rubbed her back nodding,   
"I will." 

So now it was five. Steve came back to Wakanda to them picking up after a battle. T'challa seemed far older now and he spoke less to anybody that wasn't his sister or his mother. He had three rules for them as soon as they stepped foot in the city limits, no powers, no gadgets, no fighting unless he, Shuri or Okoye gave their permission. All of them agreed readily, Wanda less so and Steve had to remind himself that she was just a child. Who lost their family and hurt her loved ones. 

She was allowed to be off on these things. 

Wakanda became their base, every mission they were given came from Nakia, all their weapons came from Shuri and T'challa let them have access to his medical lab. 

But Bucky kept relapsing, every night he went to sleep he would wake up screaming. The days he didn't he was tearing through simulations and missions with a indifferent fury that terrified Steve. The only one who seemed to think it was natural was Natasha.   
"It was how I was when Peggy saved me." 

Bucky and Steve sat down and decided. Wakanda was the head of all technology, what Stark lacked Shuri made up for in personality and smarts. She could do something to deprogram him they were sure. They weren't exactly sure but they were desperate and they've managed to survive so far with just desperation. 

Shuri wasn't so sure,   
"It's his brain", she insisted, "I can't go in there and regenerate it like I could with a limb or flesh. If I even pinch the wrong nerve he could loose everything you've worked so hard for." After their talk with Shuri Bucky had sat him down to lunch over a water fall, smiling saddely.   
"It's okay, Stevie. It's your turn to protect me from the bullies." Steve leaned forward grabbing Bucky's hand tightly, "No. You can't, I just got you back." Bucky shrugged pulling Steve's hand to his chest, right over his heart beat, "And you still will. You know where I an, you can wake me up if you need me but I can't keep running on Autopilot like this waiting till I crash." Steve shook his head in a miserable resolve, "fine." 

So Steve poured his words out onto the paper. Lately, he had less people to talk to, Natasha was going on more and more missions east, helping Nakia with impoverished countries and Sam had finally sat down and had an actually discussion with T'challa. Who he found as enchanting as the other found him hilarious, they were both teetering over something happy for themselves that Steve couldn't find it in himself to complain. 

And now he had something to look forward to when Bucky woke up. 

Steve sat down in front of a piece of paper. He hadn't planned it but words kept spilling out of his head and a cruel spite was beginning to fill his chest to the point where he needed to add something, something that not even the great Tony Stark could decipher.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony gets a panic attack. Rhodes is worried and Pepper makes a little mountain out of a mole hole. But you can see where she's coming from.

Wakanda had signed the accords. The penalty to breaking the accords was a hefty fine and a brief investigation into the country itself.

But nobody knew they had broken anything yet, they'd just have to wait until something in the world gave.

The simple letter was far from simple in anyway. Reading it made Tony's chest tighten and his ribs ache, it was the biggest fuck you he had gotten, even going through college with a bunch of entitled pricks. 

Steve's hand writing was scribbled and dashed. Brisk periods and long dashes showed just how much passion he had about how wrong one rich jerk could be. It had pissed Rhodey off more than it had him. 

"The absolute fucking nerve of this guy, I mean come on.   
'You know where to find me', that's some toxic ass shit right there. Tony hid the phone in the bottom of his desk nervously, "Uh, yeah. The fucking nerve." Rhodes turned around and stared curiously at Tony his head cocked. "You okay Tones', don't believe a word that dick says, you had every right to be upset." Tony nodded staring down at the letter, his heart throbbed with a deep seated anger that didn't quite reach the rest of his body. He felt utterly hopeless, it was almost as bad as Afghanistan, trapped in a cold, dark, cave knowing that his life was being held together by a tiny magnet. 

He started to panick just remembering the way his friend tapped out horrors in Morse code, please and cries and- Tony stopped. 

"Hey FRIDAY?"   
"Yes, Boss?" He sat down at his desk, "Did you get a copy of Roger's letter?"   
"Yes I believe I did."   
"Great, so for every dash and period he made line it up for me and translate it though Morse Code." FRIDAY opened up a holographic image of the dashes spitting it back out as a series of numbers. 

"What the hell?" Rhodes asked stepping back to watch the numbers line up like coordinates.   
"Tricky old man", Tony smirked, "His military ass thought I wouldn't be able to understand Morse code." He chuckled, "FRIDAY?"   
"Already on it boss." A globe appeared and whirred across until it hot a spot in Siberia. Tony's face fell, "Son of a bitch!" He slammed his hand against the table. 

"Hey, Tony, Tony, Tony. It's not important, you need to calm down."   
"Don't tell me to calm down", Tony sneered, he drummed his finger energetically, glaring at the coordinates on screen. "No, no, no. FRIDAY, split the coordinate and box it over numbers one through ten. Check the coordinates than." The globe wandered for a bot before stopping at the horn of Afirca. Tony shook his head, "That can't be it."   
"How do you know, Tones. Maybe they are."   
"No, I know where he is. I need him to confirm it. Switch the coordinates FRIDAY." The globe flickered in and out before landing on a empty spot in the middle of Africa. Tony grinned, "You thought you were so smart."   
"What", Rhodes asked. 

"That my friend", Tony exclaimed, "is the middle of nowhere Africa, home to the most incredible country in the world, Wakanda." Rhodey snickered, "you mean farm village Wakanda?" 

He didn't mean farm village Wakanda. Which came abundantly clear the day T'challa went public, not a week later. Rhodes stared at the television from where he sat slack jawed. Tony watched with a smirk, his arm around Pepper who had a slack jawed awe to her face.   
"Holy shit", Rhodes squeaked out.   
"See, what did I tell yah-",   
"Holy shit", Rhodes squeaked, "we need to tell them. 

Tony shook his head,   
"No we don't." Pepper looked up from the TV, "tell who what?" Rhodes pulled a letter out from no where, "Steve has been hiding out there, and the accords Council needs to know."   
"No they don't", Tony insisted, "You didn't see the way they were being treated, it was inhuman, I can't let them go back to that, Clint and Scott are lucky they got off with their house arrest." Pepper gaped at Tony, "Why didn't you tell me!"   
"Because I knew you'd freak out like this!"   
"Oh so when Steve does it it's bad but when you do it your protecting me." 

Rhodes winced, "Nope, sorry guys, not doing this." He walked out hands raised in surrender.   
"That's different", Tony insisted, "You're making a big deal about a small thing",   
Pepper looked at him insulted, "I don't like being lied to."   
"I was omitting the truth",   
"Like Steve did."   
"That was life and death", Tony added angrily. 

"And this is life and death too, when you go behind my back and hide things like thos it tells me that you don't care about your life, and this relationship enough to tell me the truth." She huffed storming back to her room, slamming the door shut behind her. 

Wakanda had signed the accords, penalty to breaking the accords was a hefty fine and a brief investigation into the country itself. And nobody had any Idea what was in store for them.


	4. Chapter four bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course I'm adding Peter Parker.

Wakanda made national news.

Peter had to study it in Social studies. Hypothesis Vibraniums structure in math and write an essay on how the people built this culture around an alien device as the Norse did and how many other cultures were doing that for history class. All of this happened in the course of a month, just eight weeks before homecoming which sucked. 

Peter's head refused to stop spinning, school was a mess, his spider life was worse and any shred of social reputation he had was shredded when he told everyone he had an internship with the Iron-man. Not to mention he had to deal with what ever it was he felt Liz. 

Mr. Stark ignored him, not that he'd every vocally tell anyone that, the smallest part of him felt like everything Flash said was true. He was a pity case and Berlin was a one time thing, he needed to let go. 

But he didn't, because that's what being a superhero was about. Never giving up even if the whole world is screaming at you to sit down. And that's what Peter felt like, everyone underestimated him because he was a kid, everyone assumed he was twelve because he didn't fit their views on what a teenage super hero should be. So Peter knew he needed to just continue on a little while longer. 

"Hey Happy, this nice lady gave me a flower from her stand after I saved it from being robbed. She said it would help me find love," Peter's cheeks flushed, "which is really just-" he laughed, "It's a pretty rose, I think I'll give it to May, she needs it more than me." Peter scratched the back of his neck, "so thanks anyways-for, I don't know listening I guess. You know what, never mind, forget that last part. Thanks, I mean not thanks, uh, yeah. Good bye." Peter ended the call hitting the back of his head, "stupid, stupid. Thanking him for doing what, obviously not answering." 

And then Ned found out, it was an accident, Peter forgot he had invited him over after school. But Bed was there and he was stuck to the walls like someone from the Exorcist.   
"Your Spiderman, from the YouTube", Ned muttered helpfully. Peter panicked, God he was terrible at keeping his secret identity secret. 

Peter thought he was fine for the time being, he just needed to answer Ned's questions and hopefully Ned would be quiet about all of it. But Parker luck was more of a notch than Karma and tended to choose people who for some cosmic reason didn't need it at all.   
"Peter knows Spiderman." And just like that his social life was torn apart, those who believed him practically fawned over him. Yeah, technically he knew Spiderman, but it still felt like lying. And the people who knew he was lying just not in the way they thought wouldn't stop harassing him. Peter grit his teeth as Flash stood up at the DJ stand sounding like the usual dick ;and muttered to himself,   
"You can't deck you classmate, you can't deck your classmate."

So he knew he needed to do something, but webbing in as Spiderman wasn't what he had in mind. It was more like abandoning the party to go to the roof top and think things over. 

"Sounds like a real shit show in there, Spidey." Peter jumped shooting web in Tony's face, "what the hell man", he whispered hoarsely. " you can't just be here someone going to see." From below he could hear Flash and the rest of his class chanting something he knew was going to stick to his life for a while, more so than the webs. 

Tony raised and eyebrow, "That sounds like something you should be dealing with." Peter waved it off, "happens all the time, one more time couldn't hurt any less." He chuckled wiping his face. Tony frowned flying closer to give Peter a once over.   
"I skipped India for this." Peter frowned, "Oh, I'm sorr-",   
"Kid, if you say your sorry I will bury you. We have another mission." Peter knew that he probably shouldn't go with Tony, this man had done nothing but patronize him and yet somehow Peter knew he didn't mean it, just like how MJ and Happy didn't either. 

"Where are we going," Peter asked. Tony hesitated, really he didn't need the kid but he wanted to get know him and Pepper had scared the force of God into him, he wasn't keeping this kid at arms length to get killed. He tried that in Germany and he had almost lost Peter. 

"We're rebuilding Avengers and our first candidate is none other than one Hope VanDyne." Peter jumped up, "Cool, when are we going?" Tony clicked his tongue, "Oh I don't know, right now or so. Come on. Oh! Call you Ned friend too, the guy who owns this house has been dealing weapons in your area. That bank that robbed-",   
"You watched that?" Tony nodded, clenching his teeth, he knew if he hadn't been looking into recruiting Hope he never would have. 

"Wait so does that mean", polic cars shrieked around the corner along with a whole grou of SWAT cars who went inside to heard the children out. Peter gaped, "we sho-we should go." Tony smirked, "excellent idea kid, by the way, I already called May. Told her that there were kids there doing drugs and I was already calling you for a report and I panicked and drove there as soon as you told me and I'm keeping you over night for extra work."   
"Oh no," Peter grumbled, "Gah, she probably didn't like that. I should call her."   
"Save it for San Fran kid."   
"Cool we're going to San Fransico? Can we see the Arch, oh, can we see that little swerve road that was on Inside out."   
"Inside what?" 

Tony looked over his shoulder into the neighboring house to see a small TV set up, the news playing for the family. On it was T'challa pardoning all of the Rogues claiming that they weren't active at all. Tony knew because it had been on the news, Wakanda had made Nation news.


	5. Chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope deserves everything Marvel has given her. New Avengers shenanigans, and Hank isn't willing to forgive the Starks yet. But we'll fix that.

It was easier to find them than anyone expected. 

Tony knew they must be constantly growing and shrinking to have evaded the police for this long. The Accords Council had decided that if Hope and Hank came in quietly soon they would be pardoned for Scott's mistakes, who was currently being released back into the public-kind of. He was to be put under a heavily monitored house arrest in San Fransico. Unfortunately, the Council thought it was important to omit that information to the press. 

Which was exactly where Hope and Hank were. And the constant growing and shrinking gave it away. 

"So how did you know they were here." Peter asked as he swung past Tony on his webbing. Tony cracked his neck, "uh well, Hope and Hank do thi-this thing where they're uh, shrink-",   
"Really", Peter pulled on the web and flipped forward catching himself before falling to low, ultimately giving Tony a heart attack. 

"Yeah, it's grown up stuff you wouldn't get." Peter nodded throw his mask landing on top of a roof top,   
"Oh, so your saying that you tracked them by measuring the level of Qauntum energy in the area?" Tony landed next to him working his jaw in shock, "How-",   
"I read about it last week, 'cause you know why not?" Tony's mouth twitched up into a smile, "Oh-",   
"It's also the plot of every time machine movie ever." Tony groaned, "Alright, that's it, no more pop-culture references for the rest of the trip." 

The building was being converted into restaurant by some jerk investor with too much money, not that he had any more than Tony but still. A crystal chandelier dangled over the main floor, refracting snatches of light onto the grand marble floor.   
"Alright, Spidey, you're going to stay here as back up while I go and talk to Hope." Peter huffed through his mask, "But I wanna' help." Tony turned back glaring sternly at Peter, "and you are, when I need you. And don't-don't do anything until I call you got it."   
"But what if I see someone sneaking up on you or something?" Tony's suit clicked open parking next to Peter, "Than you radio it in." He tapped his ear, I can hear everything you say." 

Hope was sitting across the buildings owner in an evening gown pooling at her feet. She smiled at the man, talking sweetly about something Tony was sure he didn't care about.   
"Melissa?" Hope turned around in surprise, her face crumpling in a cold fury at the sight of Tony Stark. The investor stared at Tony trying to place where he'd seen him before,   
"I'm sorry, who are you?" 

Tony smiled garishly, shoving his hands in his pocket.   
"Oh, I'm a friend of Melissa here. She and I used to date before college." He turned around to Hope grinning, "Hey, kid, how're the kids?" The investor turned to Hope face sheet white, "Kids?" Hope smiled sweetly at him before whirling around to march over to Tony.   
"One second", she murmured sweetly to the investor. 

"What the hell", she ranted furiously. Tony shrugged, "I'm here to come tell you that what ever this assholes offering, I'll get it for you in less time than he promised for no money at all." Hope blinked, "what?"   
"Ah Mr. Stark?" Tony clicked intercom on his ear holding his finger up toward Hope,   
"What is kid?"   
"There are a bunch of giant ants crawling around here and they look very threatening."   
"Giant ants", Tony muttered, he turned back as Hope kicked him in the jaw knocking him to the ground before shrinking down and flitting away. 

Tony swore,   
"Hang on kid." He pulled himself up calling his armor down to meet him as he burst through the front door racing out onto the street. "FRIDAY, scan the area for life forms."   
"Yes Boss." 

"How did he find us", Hank yelled through the com. Hope shut the van door behind her pulling her helmet off, "I don't know."   
"What does he want", Hank shouted,   
"I don't know!" 

"Boss, they're two life forms detected near that fire hydrant would you like me to magnetized the image."   
"Knock yourself out, Fri."

Peter jumped down off the fire escape pinning the ants together with a flurry of webs. He pulled the mouth of his mask off, squatting down and taking a deep breath.   
"Hey Underoo's, if you've finished with up the ants mind helping me down here." Peter huffed out a sigh, webbing over to the next building over, "work for Tony Stark he said, it'll be fun he said." 

"FRIDAY, fire test nanites at that van."   
"Right away, Sir." Funnels on his shoulder opened up and microscopic robots descended down towards the hydrant and the van. 

"What the hell", Hope said as the robots attached to their van holding them stead fast in their place. She jumped as another person jumped down holding his forearms out poised to shoot something. Hope sighed,   
"Dad." Hank shook his head slamming the wheel,   
"No. No. No, we're so close. I need to find her." Hope pinched her nose, "Dad. We need to surrender, for now." 

The van grew to regular size and the side door opened for Hope and Hank to shuffle out, their hands held up. Tony frowned,   
"Spidey, web em'." Peter nodded shooting web towards them sticking them to the side of the van. Hank swore again, pulling on the web, while Hope eyed it curiously before looking back up Peter squinting.   
"Are you twelve?" 

Peter scoffed letting out an indignant squawk,   
"No, I'm not."   
"Spidey", Tony muttered, "I'm gonna' need you to sit out on this one." Peter grumbled crossing his arms and stepping back. 

Tony turned to Hank,   
"Are you aware of the Accords."   
"Yeah it's what you and that Star spangled idiot were fighting over and the reason why the government wants us in custody."   
"Part of that is true." Hope cocked her head, "what do you mean it's partially true?"   
"I mean, that there are rules but there is a way to bend said rules." Hank scoffed,   
"Of course a Stark would say that-",   
"Dad!" 

Tony ignored Hank in favor of continuing,   
"Don't you think I know what your doing, it's not that hard to tell. You're trying to go all fantastic adventure in the Qauntum realm but for what I can't figure out." Tony shrugged, "But I can help you." Hope turned to Father, he shook his head, "No, no! I am not asking a Stark for help." 

Hope turned back to Tony frowning,   
"What do we need to do."   
"Read the accords. Back to front, every foot note and clause."   
"What", Hank asked curiously.   
"Captain Anerica didn't want to sign the Accords, you know that, but he makes it out to seem he knew what he was doing. I made the mistake", Hank huffed out a laugh, "I made the mistake of telling him the general idea and not insisting he read it, I thought he would see reason. But he didn't. So I need you to read the accords, I've sent you a full length document to read. If you are willing to sign it and work under me or Colonel Rhodes, or any other leader the Accords assigns to you than call me. Attached to the document is a way to contact me. If you contact me I'll know you're ready to work, if you don't I leave you alone and see to it the Goverment doesn't find you." 

Hank and Hope shared a look.   
"I'll let you to consider it, Spidey let 'em down." Peter walked forward with a clear spray in a windex bottle.   
"Hold still," he said, "I've never tried this on a person before." 

"Well that went well," Tony drawled.   
"Captain didn't read the Accords?" Tony looked over at Peter, "He, uh, no. He didn't, I asked him too but he said it wasn't worth his time." Peter stopped swinging to look at his feet, "I read it." Tony cocked his head, "You did?"   
"Uh, yeah. My class had to read the whole thing for Social Studies but most of us wanted to." Tony huffed put a laugh, "so you're telling me, that Rogers was less responsible than a class of high schoolers." He patted Peter on the back, "That's amazing, Petey. Hey what do you say you get changed into street clothes and I'll take you to get a pizza." Peter's smile spread over his face, "That sounds great."   
"You can sleep on the plane on the way home, kay?" Peter nodded, "Sure thing Mr. Stark." 

Tony's mouth twitched up, 'Mr. Stark.' 

Pizza with Tony was surreal. This was the guy Peter grew up idolizing and here he was complaining about Peter ordering Hawaiian. Half way through the night Peter looked up at Tony sitting over his half of pizza sipping on coke while talking about some story of a lab accident with the Bruce Banner and Peter realized, this is a guy who did regular guy things. His smiled free significantly wider before he began to hypothesize at what they did wrong. And watching the maniac glee grow on the inventors face

"Tony, I'm calling to except your offer."   
"Hope?" Tony looked up from his station as Hope's voice filtered through the speakers.  
"My Dad needs a little more time to decide but I think I want to sign it."   
"You think, what are your draw backs to the Accords?" Hope audibly swallowed, "Does this mean I'd be an Avenger." Tony scooted out to the middle of the floor pulling up Hope's file.   
"If you sign it, yep." Hope laughed out in shock, "Wow, so does that limit my public life, like are there rules I'll have to follow or is it just when it comes to being a hero." 

Tony picked up a sketch of Hope's suit as an Iron suit.   
"Nope, your pedestrian life won't be affected unless you start jumping around in a skin tight leather suit with out expressed permission." Hope sighed out, "wow, uh, I guess I'm ready then." Tony grinned, "that's great, I'll alert Secretary Ross of your decision. Thank you for your consideration. We'll be in touch."   
"Great". The call disconnected and Tony stood up pulling the suit to a life size view,   
"FRIDAY, add Hope's info to the Avenger's file."   
"Right away sir." 

Wakanda's ambassador admitted to the fact that they did in fact hold the Rogues part time. But currently the Rogues were on a private mission dealing with Human trafficking in Thailand. Anyone they found could not be taken into custody since they were under diplomatic immunity from the crown but if found they will be sent to court to argue for their innocence. 

It was easier to find them than anyone expected. They were found in a locked storage unit holding a gun to Thailand's Ambassador's head. The same ambassador that had publicly demanded their arrest.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RHODEY FEELS. Because you knew I would, didn't you?

The court room fell silent. 

Colonel Rhodes hobbled up to the witness stand never breaking eye contact with Rogers. 

It had been three days since the Rogues had been arrested in Thailand. After further questioning, the Rogues would explain that the man had been a top tier buyer in their human trafficking case. 

"Colonel Rhodes, can you tell me exactly your account of the while event?" Rhodes glared at the stand never flinching, never looking away his face cold and stony. He was furious.   
"Well, Mr-ah- Myerson, Steve Roger's had shown violent tendencies toward Mr. Stark after the Accords had been proposed and was senselessly violent toward others and", Rhodes scratched the bridge of his nose before folding his hands, "To my knowledge didn't even bother to look at the Accords." The prosecutor smirked opening up his files to ask his next question. 

"Mr. Rogers can you tell me the thoughts going through your head during the whole ordeal." Steve leaned forward a movie star smile dazzling on his lips,   
"Listen son, what we might not have been the best option for you, but my friend was in danger and helping my friend became my best option. 

And it's not like I specifically did what I did because I disapproved of the Accords but I believed these limitations on who and how we can protect is down right unamerican. And was unfair to the people who were just trying to help. Like Ms. Maximoff, she was scared and trying to protect me, like any scared kid would. She had just lost her family, she didn't want to lose a friend."   
"That sounds very noble Mr. Rogers. Except that woman isn't a kid, she's twenty-two. And most kids don't throw temper tantrums that blow up hospitals."

From the crowd Rhodes buried his head in his hands groaning. 

"Ms. Romanoff you had agreed fully to all of the Accords requests, you signed an oath. And even still, you let a wanted criminal go after he told you that lives were in danger, no facts, not a stable story. Just that lives were in danger."   
"Mr. Myerson, with all due respect I feel like as a person I'm obligated to make hard decisions when I'm told lives are in danger by someone I trust. Steve would never do something like this with out reason. We wanted to make sure the people were safe and not going to get hurt by emotionless assassin that HYDRA couldn't control."   
"Oh, an emotionless assassin that HYDRA couldn't control, like this Mr. Barnes you all worked so hard to protect? Did it ever occur to you that maybe these were people who were scared and didn't know what was going on?" Natasha ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek, "The thought did occur, yes. But I couldn't take that chance."   
"That wasn't your call to make, especially not after signing the Accords." 

"Did you read the Accords." Sam settled back in his chair,   
"I scanned it, yeah."   
"That wasn't the question Mr. Wilson, did you read it cover to cover and think this through."   
"No", Sam replied looking sheepish, "I didn't". 

The prosecutor groaned turning to the judge, "permission to ask the room a question, Sir?" The judge nodded, "permission granted." The prosecutor nodded before turning to the crowd,   
"Who here has read the accords?" The whole crowd raises their hand. Mr. Meyerson turns to the Rogues, "who here just skimmed it"? Everyone but Natasha raised their hands. Natasha looked back and forth before burying her face in her arms,   
"Idiots." 

"Ms. Maximoff did the Avengers try and get you training for your abilities." Wanda nodded, "Stark insisted but everyone else understood that I was in full control of my abilities and didn't need help."   
"Full control... you mean like how you displayed in Africa? On that last mission?" Wanda looked away, "I panicked."   
"Which was an excellent way to say you were not prepared." Wanda glared at him,   
"I did what I did to protect my people."   
"No, you did what you did to get revenge on Mr. Stark but it got out of hand." Wanda shook her head, "I did what I did to make sure Stark couldn't do that to me or my people again." 

"Mr. Rogers can you tell me exactly why you believe what you did was the right thing?" Steve sighed shrugging,   
"In the end I made a choice because you people were not able to. I'm not saying the Avengers were blameless but I am saying that we can't be held accountable for-",   
"What? Your own actions?" Steve glared at the prosecutor,   
"No. It was an accident that we tried to help clean up. It had been paid for and we helped evacuate the premises. And than the government decides to come in and make sure we can't clean up and begins to blame us. At the end of day we were ready to come in and do what we could but no one would understand that, so we had to go behind your back and fix it ourselves. We feel that in the end all of this was just elaborate misunderstanding after elaborate misunderstanding. We've agreed to come back with our hands up but you need to understand this. We were only trying to help." 

Rhodes watched as the jury began to come to their decision.   
"We the people feel that Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff and Wanda Maximoff should not be held accountable for their mistakes and will be pronounced not guilty if they agree to come back on certain conditions that the Accords Council instills." 

The court room fell silent and quietly Rhodes whispered to himself,   
"Shit."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically a general summary of everything Marvel did wrong with Pepper's character who fully deserves to be the BAMF genius that she is. Because we all knew this would happen if Civil war didn't. Also Tony angsts

"I'm sorry, Tony." 

Tony looked up from his station with red eyes,   
"Why should you be sorry? It's not like you did anything wrong." Happy watched with concern as Tony jabbed a screw driver into the car engine he had been frantically rebuilding. 

Hally nodded, "I know, but you're still going to have to be the one who has to deal with their B.S again." Tony swiveled his chair back to another station fidgeting with his helmet.   
"Pfft, what B.S it's going to be good to get the whole gang back together." He stood up on the stool causing Happy to lurch forward holding his hands out. Tony nodded flipping through a holographic file, "yeah, hey! You know what", the chair shook causing him to slip slightly, Happy hissed. "We should go find Maria and-and Fury...get the whole sqaud together drink mammosas or something on a beach, i-in Cuba." He shrugged slipping back to fiddle with his helmet. 

"Just a thought, but what do you think Fury would look like in swim trunks." He held the screw driver in his mouth, "or Hulk for that matter, would Brucie have to get like special Nylon trunks or something?" The helmet fizzled shocking his finger, Tony reeled back ducking where he had been shocked, "God dammnit." 

Happy smiled, "speaking of nylons I brought you a peace offering." Peter ran through the front door holding a happy meal in his hands.   
"Mr. Stark, you know how you arrested my friends Dad for dealing weapons. Well apparently he had been flying around the neighborhood with wings and I didn't notice." 

Happy smiled, "I'm going leave you two to your inventions but Pepper wants both of you for dinner by six and May wants him back by Ten." Peter jumped in his seat, "Oh, does that mean we have time to watch Star Trek? Have you watched it, I'm sure you have 'cause your old and into science, Ned prefers Star Wars which is okay I guess but Stark Trek isn't as big as Star Wars you know? Their story lines are super cool and they have the best tech in it." He grinned up at Tony, Tony blinked looking up at Happy panicked. Happy shrugged smiling softly and walking out. 

Tony bit his lip before saying,   
"Old, huh?" Peter cringed, "I mea-",   
"Well let me show you what an old man can do Mr. Parker", he huffed out a laugh, "old, the nerve." 

Pepper walked into the living room an annoyed frown on her face.   
"Tony, you missed dinner." She turned around the corber and stopped at the sight of her partner sleeping on the couch with a spider in his lap. She smiled,   
"Hey, Tony...Tony, sweetie wake-", Tony's hand came flying up to catch her wrist squeezing tightly to the point of pain shooting up her arm, he glared at her darkly his arms tightening around Peter. 

"Tony?" Pepper tried desperately to pull her arm back, her eyes wide with fear. "Tony!" 

Tony blinked and the world cleared, the fog in his eyes blinked away and once again he was aware of his surroundings. He dropped Pepper's arm turning away from her.   
"Did I-", Pepper sighed, clutching her bruising forearm to her chest barely hiding the quiver in her chest's rhythm, "yes." Tony shook his head, moving Peter off his lap and onto the couch, "Oh, Pep', I am so sorr-",   
"Save it," she fumed, "I don't-I don't want to hear it", she said with a paradoxical steady shrill to her voice that only she could pull off.   
"When the kid wakes up I'll meet you guys in the dining room for dinner." Tony stared at her as she walked away, his jaw slack in a shell-shocked worry. His heart hadn't yet caught up with the rest of his body and the sight of Pepper's bruised wrist didn't do anything but make him worse off. He turned away clamping his mouth shut to wake Peter up from his sleep. 

"Hey kid, kid." Peter opened his eyes warily, blinking away the fuzz of sleep in his brain.   
"Mr. Stark", he rapped, rubbing his eyes. Tony nodded,   
"Sure, kid. Come on, we gotta' go, Pep made us dinner." Peter yawned, rubbing his eyes,   
"Ms. Potts made us dinner?"   
"Yeah, it's okay if you spit it out when you leave, I was going to do the exact same." He laughed at the look of confusion that spread across Peter's face.   
"Wha-",   
"ah, I'm just messing with you. You'll love Pep's cooking. She's like some italian food Goddess, you should try her pasta." He smiles fondly, scuffing up Peter's hair. Peter chuckled pushing Tony away,   
"Mr. Stark stop. You're going to mess it up." Tony ignored him scruffinf his hair more causing Peter's hair to fluff up. Peter blew aside a stray strand frowning to himself. 

The dining room looked nothing like what the great Mr. Stark would own. He had only used it twice before, once when he and Pepper were fighting and a second time when General Ross came over to give him a run down on some of the dense parts of the Accords, that he would never openly admit to not understanding. Now he was back in the dining room again, each of the guests chewing louder than normal to try and stiffle the awkward silence that permeated around the room-and he was fighting with Pepper again too. 

"So...Peter, tell me, how did Tony manage to pick you up?" Pepper awkwardly smiled, her arms bouncing with her shoulders as a her press conference laugh fell from her mouth. Peter shrugged,   
"Mr. Stark saw me on YouTube and thought I might be able to help him. Really he's helped more, I keep telling Ned that I feel like I'm too safe, I tried to take down this one bad guy and my suit did this strange thing that webbed them all down like they were flies, it was so crazy," Pepper glared at Tony from across the table,   
"-of course there is a ton of training you and I have to go through before I can really release you to really fight crime by yourself and I will always be watching". He looked over at Pepper for some kind of confirmation that the decision was a good one but Pepper had gone back to glaring at her food as she shoveled it down. "The foods good", Peter tried.   
"It's chicken," Pepper grumbled. 

The rest of the night had been an akward stasis, every time Tony tried to get Peter to say something to get the other to open up Pepper would shut him down by glaring at Tony or sending harsh glares at Peter if his topic got to be something that any sane adult wouldn't allow a child to do. About five minutes till eight Pepper slammed her fork down an dropped her napkin on the table,   
"I'm sorry for the unpleasant during dinner, Peter. You came at a bad time. I look forward to meeting you again, hopefully when your safety is not a topic of debate." She glared harshly at Tony, "Now, you must excuse me." She turned and strutted out the back door, calmly and orderly without once breaking character." 

"Does she always act like she's being recorded", Peter tried weakly but a cold sense of realization washed over Tony when it occurred to him that there was no other way to describe Pepper other than camera ready. Not even in the privacy of their own bedroom was she anything but perfect and Tony had thought it was his love that made him think that. Really, it was everyone who would think that if they knew her. 

Tony himself drove Peter back to Queens. The entire time Peter stared into the windows reflection watching the way his idol moved. He served around trash in the middle of the freeway, gripped the wheel like it was life and death and every single bang or flashing light caused him to swerve the car. At one point he signalled to pull over before second guessing himself and pulling back into the intersection. Much to expressed anger of the surrounding drivers. Half way through the drive Peter and texted Happy to come to his house as soon as he could to drive Tony home. 

When they had pulled up in front of his apartment Peter hopped out of the car and walked over to meet Tony in the middle.   
"Happy's coming to pick you up, Mr. Stark. You need to breath, Happy's coming to help." Tony nodded his face going soft,   
"Dwah, you didn't have to do that for me kid. I could've gotten home myself." Peter huffed out a laughter,   
"Sure thing Mr. Stark. Try and tell that to Happy when he gets here," he trailed off as Hapy jogged put over, "speaking of which." 

Happy stopped, curling in on himself to catch his breath,   
"Oh, that was bad. Just gotta catch my breath." He huffed, wiping his face, "I walked here from Brooklyn." Tony nodded,   
"Okay big guy, you can go wait in the car, I need to talk to Petey here." Happy nodded, loading up in the drivers seat and shutting the door.

"Is this a good talk or a bad talk", Peter tried. Tony leaned down pulling Peter into a hug,   
"I'm sorry about everything kid." Peter stared up at him,   
"It's okay Mr. Stark." Tony scoffed, ruffling the kids hair, "it's Tony kid, call me Tony." 

Peter rolled his eyes,   
"Sure thing, I'm sorry Tony." Tony smiled as Peter laughed out his name, "it's okay, Petey. I forgive you."


	8. Chapter eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda could have been better if she wasn't treated like a baby. But I don't think she really deserved the redemption arc.

They were going home. 

Not anytime soon thanks to Rhodes but Wanda was sure they'd be back soon and things could go back to how they were before. She would get to see vision again and she could apologize. She had never meant to hurt him like that, she knew he would understand her reasons. And even if he didn't they would forgive each other soon enough. They're lives were to intertwine to not to. One could bot have existed with out the other. 

"You will not engage until the Accords council's have agreed that engaging is the best course of action. Is that clear?" 

The past two months had been a tedious drawl between training and following America's news with meticulous care. Every scrape of information had become a neccessary to her, including the rising new goverment instated Avegeners. They were models for something they didn't understand, Vision had yet to see the real horrors of war and the two insects looked like the worse thing they had dealt with was a gas station robbery. All of them were clearly amatures Steve insisted to the others every meeting. Since they had been found in Thailand they had been staying in a loft in Prague, waiting for their reconditioning to be over so they could finally go back home. 

"What if it's something small time like this kids being mugged or some guys are harassing a lady", Sam asked cooly, his feet sticking out in front of him, fingerss drumming against the table.   
"Did I tell you you couldn't step in like a good samaritan, no. If the threat is something of alien origin or has the possibility of claiming a large sum of human lives than you wait to be allowed to engage."   
"So we're just supposed to sit back and wait while people die?"   
"I'm sorry", Secretary Ross ranted, "how many people died when one of the Avengers creations dropped Sakovia from the sky, hmm?"   
"Last I checked that was Starks weapon, right", Sam asked, turning his palms up, "we weren't responsible so why are we the one getting bit in the ass about it?" 

"Because Tony did something to make sure it won't happen again." Widow looked down at her hands and for a brief moment her eyes flashed with a storm of emotions that sent Wanda coiling with fear, this woman was a slab of stone and here she was looking at them with a stirring anger that made Wanda's throat clump like she had swallowed a peanut butter sandwich. 

"Mr. Ross, I would like to speak to you privately after this", Natasha added. Ross shrugged, "sure thing, honey. But wasting my time will only make your wait longer." Nat raised a perfectly stenciled eyebrow with a twitch of an alluring smile,   
"I don't think I could ever waste such an important mans time." He glared at her and Wanda could tell that any talks outside this meeting would be shut down.

Sam looked between the two with a look of shock and bewilderment, his mouth flapping as it struggled to grasp words. Beside him Steve sat unperturbed, glaring down at the accords. His chin settled on the palm of his hand, thin finger covering his mouth. 

"You will not be allowed to step outside of American soil unless you have been given permission. Those luxuries that American citizens have are currently revoked. Next time before you commit grand scale treason for no reason think about what will happen and if it's really worth it. Your house arrest buddies learned that the hard way, consider yourselves lucky that we're not locking you in the Avengers compound and set loose on each other." 

Wanda's mind wandered back Vision. She wondered if he was thinking about her right now, was he hurt, was he angry? Wanda didn't know if she could deal with Vision being angry with her, the very thought made her heart ache in a empty longing that was akin to wandering down a dark hallway with nothing in your stomach. The more she thought about it the more she made herself sure that she would do anything to win Vision over once she got back. Even if it meant shaking hands publicly with Stark while smiling peacefully.

She didn't exactly hate Tony. Her feelings for him didn't get any better over the course of Germany but she had long since forgiven Tony for what he did to her family-she knew of course that he didn't do it, but she was to angry to care until she felt his own hostile anger toward himself and she understood that all the punishment he could ever have was served up by his own mind. The worst thing would be for him to find happiness and acceptance, she was sure that he'd forget her brothers death and everyone else's if he moved on so quickly. In the end he had stood with her and invited her into his family, it flattered Wanda to no ends. That this man had managed to build up a new life for himself, a new family after going through something so harrowing-whether he deserved it or not was up to debate. The way the others saw it though was that Tony hadn't built himself a family, he had forced in after New York and they were obligated too because he did technically save the world. 

But Wanda saw it differently, she new that cities were not cheap. The level of destruction- no matter how big had been fixed, glossed over with money. It was the only use of money that Wanda approached Stark of using. According to Steve he used a lot of it on pleasantries he did not deserve. Lavishing his self like he was a prince, consuming in a hedonistic fashion that would make the Roman's dizzy. And he could never keep a relationship for longer than a week, every month seedy magazines posted pictures of him with many different woman acting like he'd ruined childrens lives not even a world away or there would an article on how he and his CEO were sleeping in separate beds again and again and again. The stories never stopped, once when Wanda had showed Widow, Natasha had glared at her yanking the magazine and telling her not to believe everything she read. 

Ross droaned on the the back ground, something about the Avengers being captioned into different teams when they returned. 

Wabda blocked it out with thoughts on what she would do once she was safe in American soil again. Maybe eat Ice-cream, once Wanda had tasted it in America the first time she almost cried. They couldn't afford something gluttonous in the skeleton state of her city so eating such a sweet treat felt almost as wrong as how amazing the treat tasted. 

Or maybe they would watch more Disney movies. That had been the movies in Sakovia that weren't pure bullshit propaganda that made her feel guilty inside. When she had shown Steve Aladin for the first time she had heard him singing a whole new world softly to himself when he thought he was alone. And don't get her started on how loud he was in his head, or how often someone so patriotic could curse that much. 

"Wanda!"Ross snapped his finger bringing Wanda back to the present, she blinked looking up startled.   
"Sorry, uh, what wat that", she tried weakly.   
"I was saying that someone volunteered to come forward and train you." Wanda's interest was piqued, "Really, who?" 

A circle of sparks cut through the room ripping open a hole, suddenly the room became overwhelmingly loud. All she could hear was a sharp white noise and a lack of magic in her made Wanda's finger went numb.   
"I have, Ms. Maximoff." A tall man stepped forward, he looked so similar to Stark, if it wasn't for the drastic change in skin color and height Wanda might have thought they were clones. Ross cleared his throat, glaring at the theatrics,   
"Yes. Mr.-",   
"Dr."   
"Yes, Dr. Strange here has volunteered to help you rein in your energy. Once you have passed a suitable level of control the council will allow you to begin being processed to go back home."   
"It shouldn't be too difficult", Strange butted in, "perhaps a month or two, maybe more. It all depends on your discipline." 

Wanda nodded, grinning like a hatter.   
They were going home.


	9. Chapter nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sit your asses down and prepare for cavity inducing fluff.

Hope felt hope. 

It was kind of funny when you thought about, really she would burst into a fit of internal goggles every time she thought about it, and Stark couldn't get enough of the cheesy puns and jokes he could make with just her first name alone. 

The Avegeners initiative had been a SHIELD pipe dream created by a fanatic, Nick Fury who believe in the worst of the best people and the best in the worst people. The government really wasn't any better but still, the Government had won and the winner gets the spoils. 

The Avengers now were a government branch overseen by the council and DHS. SHIELD was just another pipe dream. It was not longer an uncontrollable initiative that had no established leader and paid under the table with gifts and security, fanciful splendors scooped up by someone, somewhere to keep them happy. And contained. 

Everything she had against the Avengers was being removed. They were gaining stability, like it was America's dead beat boyfriend finally dressing up and cleaning the house because you threatened to leave- scratch that. It was basically throwing away the whole boyfriend and dating his twin brother. Still the same, yet different. 

But in order for there to be an Avengers there needed to be Avengers. So that was why Hope was standing here, a neatly typed contract in her purse. Right smack dab in the middle of San Fransico, waiting for a middle aged ex-terroist to open is door. As if the shrinking suit and giant ants wasn't weird enough. 

Scott opened his door, smacking his lips like he had just finished a yawn.   
"Yeah, Hello...I'm gonna' need you to walk a little closer if you want me to buy your cookies, I'm not allowed to leave the house." He scratched his thigh, stretching out to pop his shoulder blade,   
"No offense Mr. Lang but if I were an actual girl scout I would be running away terrified." 

Scott choked in shock,   
"Hope-Hope!" He righted himself, tying his bath rob closed and began to smile sweetly like he wasn't standing in front of her, wearing nothing undershirt and gym shorts, a trace locked around a sock covered ankle.   
"Hello Mr. Lang, Ms. VanDyne will do for now, thank. I'm here to discuss the accords with you for a brief moment, Stark sent me." Scott blinked, shaking his head in confusion,   
"Accords", he mumbled, his finger curled in though on his chin, "accords, accords, accords. Ah! The whole thing Cap and Iron man were fighting over " Hope gave him a think veiled frown plastered behind a disbelieving smile,   
"Cap", she asked her voice laced with mirth. 

"Oh yeah", Scott replied waving his hand dismissively, wearing a vague lip curling frown followed by a stiff shrug, "all his friends call him that," he stopped, "I mean not, his friends, I'm not saying Cap and I are friends...well I mean we did work together and he came to break me out and you know, even if it was the whole group it's the thought that counts-",   
"Would you like to invite me in Mr. Lang", he nodded sheepishly, "Sure thing Ms-uh, Ms. VanDyne." 

The inside of Scott's home was cluttered, in a homey lived in way that Hope longed for, she liked all of it and for a brief second she thought of her and Scott living together like this, their homes cluttered with ants and projects and every day that'd train together. As soon as she thought of it the idea was quickly shot in the head and buried in a grassy plot. 

"So." Scott set two mugs down steaming with coffee, black, two spoons fills of cream and brown sugar sprinkled in it. Her favorite. Hope cringed, deciding that she wouldn't drink the coffee just stare at it longingly till Scott got the general idea of where things were at. 

"Tell me about these accords. I need you to be honest too, Hope. I am not signing without reading fine print", he pulled out a pair of glasses and set them at the end of his nose, "I will not make that mistake again". Hope burst into a fit of laughter, "oh my god." She covered up the ridiculous smile forming on her face, "you look", she cackled, "you look like a grandpa." Scott smiled back just as widely, a look of fondness settling on his face, "well I'm glad you find my very real disability so hilarious." Hope composed herself, wiping at her eyes, "oh, it does. It really does ant-boy." Scott rolled his eyes, "Haha, very funny. Come on, show me the paper work." 

Hope pulled the contract from her bag and rolled it out for Scott. Scott smiled at her,   
"Now, I've never really been good with anything legal wise",   
Hope scoffed  
"So your going to have to walk me through it Ms. VanDyne." 

Hope stared up at Scott, who stared back at her with soft eyes. And somehow, Hope jnew everything would be all right.   
"So Rogers called it a target in the back. You do unfortunately have to give up your secret identity, which might bring some unwanted attention to your family. And that took a lot of convincing on my part to get Hank to sign. But we really haven't any trouble, since the press conference no ones called me or been disrespectful, which is why I believe you want have much trouble too because you haven't pissed the country off at all and your a pretty big nobody."   
"Gee thanks." 

Natasha was coming home next week. She had signed the accords and really that should make her punishment worse. But the only thing she needed to do was jump through a few debriefing hoops, get a psychoanalysis from a professional and not a SHIELD advisor, and lastly agree to give up all other double lives and other identities until the time when she could be trusted again. Hope would be waiting for her. 

The plan was that now that Natasha was coming back Hope would be able to do more ground work instead of being a stuffy liaison. Really it was more Pepper's thing but she had decided the boycott it after Tony set his lab on fire with Peter in the room. Either it was controlled or it was an accident Hope couldn't tell. But currently Pepper wasn't even living in the headquarters. 

Now that the liaison problem was soon to be taken care of Hope could focus on rebuilding the Avengers and sorting them into their perfect teams according to who they work best with and how. Beside Scott there weren't many people to be considered, signing would give him an early release on his sentence. Tony was covering Clint, but neither of them expected him to sign seeing as how his youngest just turned two. 

One of the candidates she was considering was King T'challa, but seeing as how he had a kingdom to run he might now be everything they need.   
"Crap", Hope sighed. They needed more candidates. 

A knock on the door arose Hope from her little pity party. Pulling her up to the door to meet Ross. He glared up at her for a second before handing her a flash drive,   
"Tony told me you were in charge of all in ward and outward persons to be inspected."   
"I'm also liaison for this whole branch so if you would keep this brief and worth my time that would be great." Ross rolled his eyes, "just take the damn thing."   
"What am I looking into this guy for? A threat or as an ally." Ross shrugged, "ally I think. He came forward to train Wanda after hearing about incident. I want to have this guy under scrutiny alright, I'll let you decide if he's worth your time." He turned around and left before Hope could respond. 

"Jerk" Hope whispered to herself. Slowly she plugged the hard drive in pulling up the file on her computer, she looked up toward the ceiling,   
"FRIDAY, upload the file onto my desk top."   
"Right away Ms. VanDyne." Hope rolled over to her desk brushing aside equations for access to the quantum realm and pulled Stephen's file up to 3-D. She pursued the the pages before dropping the file back into her desk smiling.   
"FRIDAY, please upload Dr. strange's file to the Avengers file.   
"Right away miss." 

Hope smiled to herself. 

Hope had Hope.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor baby needs Therapy

Merchant of death. 

As a teen Tony had thought the name was the coolest thing ever. Who wouldn't want their own title. But now, the very words made him shudder cold, sand clumps forming in his throat.

The merchant had been a ruse, and it had been a truth. Tony wasn't still quite sure who he was back then. But obviously he was someone Pepper could fall in love with, someone who Rhodes would trust. 

The merchant had been self constructed curtain to prevent the world from seeing who he could be. It wasn't a experience too unfamiliar to Wanda, people fear those who had every right to be a threat to them. The accords weren't too hard of a pill to swallow because Tony already knew something about the public's terror. He knew that the world would have drowned him as soon as he spent his first day in college. Hell, if it wasn't possible for someone to graduate on their first day Tony was pretty sure he would have done it to get over with it and move on, the experience was slowly starting to get boring. So of course a high was the perfect response, it filled the edges of his wit. 

He could have taken his finals stoned and plastered with the same amount of ease that a fish would have swimming in color dyed water. It was jarring but still he managed. 

Unfortunately Wanda wouldn't see, she couldn't see even with all the trauma in the world. She had been apologetic to people she knew where respected and was forgiven by spineless monkeys that did nothing but sit back and make almost as many excuses as they kill innocents. 

She would be getting the proper training from a proper teacher. A wizard of all things that would give no information to the goverment on where his powers came from what so ever. Tony hoped-god no, he prayed to any higher power that this man believed just a small sliver of what Tony or Barton did on the subject of mind control. Or any sort of mind rape that leaft you scarred. 

"I'm sorry it went like this Clint." Clint looked over to the next room, his wife was kneeling over a baby swaddling it in a bright pink blanket as the rest of her kids played battleship. Clint shrugged, "I'm not, if I could go back and change one thing the only thing I'd fix was telling Steve to go screw himself and let me enjoy my retirement." The corner of Tony's mouth ticked up, "really?", Clint flashed him an annoyed look, "just because I'm disagreeing with Rogers doesn't mean I'm agreeing with you." Tony shrugged, "I don't honestly care. But I'm just glad you have your family." Clint nodded, smiling weakly at his wife, "yeah, I am too." 

The merchant of death had died. Most people assume that the terrorists had beaten it out of him, others think it was the moment he woke up in that cave. No, Tony could pin point the exact moment the Merchant had died. It had been in the back of a jeep, cowering in fear as the young men and women who had sworn to protect him were shot down. 

And for the long time after that Tony had been died, half the time the magnet on his chest felt like a hundred pounds, his fingers itched to rip it out of his body and slowly drift off. Content to think, just like his mind had been born to do. 

"So that's a no on Clint then," Hope asked. Tony nodded looking glumly out the car window, Hope snapped her finger looking at him angrily.   
"Hey, Tony! I know that look, snap out of it. You looked like me when my Dad told me I couldn't take his suit out for a joy ride." The corner of Tony's mouth twitched,   
"Ich, don't tell Peter that or he'll use it against me." Hope chuckled, her eyes now drawn back to the files on her desk. They stood like that for a while, just having somewhere there because they wanted to be was invigorating to Tony, this was different from Pepper or from Rhodey. He had given this woman a reason to hate him and yet she hadn't. It was almost euphoric in way, the thought alone almost made a nuclear smile burst across his face. He chose to instead nervously massage his aching chest,   
"Uh, hey. Hope, I'll be back as soon as I can but I think I'm going to visit the kid." Hope nodded, an ecstatic grin on her lips,   
"Sure thing Tony, maybe you can pick up some sandwhiches from that place the kid likes and try and get him to come over...I don't know, I'll invite Rhodes, we'll all eat together." Tony grinned, she was giving him a task to do, she knew he was just trying to get her to hang up but her persistence on the topic almost made something in Tony's chest rumble.   
"I'll see if I can drag the kid away." 

The merchant was dead Tony insisted to himself. And yet?

"Happy pull over", the car shuddered to a stop on the curb of a back stretch in New York, just eight blocks from Peter's neighborhood.   
"I'll call you when I need you to pick me up, alright huggy-bear?" Happy snorted, "stay safe, don't get into fights with the other kids, if they're giving you trouble you need to tell a teacher." Tony grinned waving aimlessly with a bored flick, "Bye, Mom. Love you." Happy rolled the window up driving back into the traffic. Tony had taken two steps toward Peter's house before turning on his heels and running to the nearest tall building he could find. He wanted to see New York. 

Roger's had pissed him sure, but he had gone above him. He had worked to make sure Steve would never hurt him again, that Wanda wouldn't hurt him again. And yet, And yet? Tony couldn't tell. 

His feet carried him more than his head, he dodged head bowed pedestrians, running in side an apartment complex that reached nearly eighty feet. His hand twitched against the watch on his wrist, pulling at the clasp with no real malice. 

That and yet was still bothering him, there was this ache in his chest that he couldn't place what it was. How could his life be going so right and so, so wrong at the same time. His relationship of twelve, eleven years was crumbling but still, he was alive, he should be so, so grateful he's alive. 

Roger's was coming back and who was going to keep Steve away from him. His family could only do so little before Nat traps him in an elevator or Wanda manipulates him to talking to Steve privately in a locked room away from FRIDAY. But God he was so happy right now, the very thought of all this happiness being obsalete, a one time thing that comes from just pure spite of others. Tony couldn't tell if he could handle living off of spite with out a small pity party every few seconds. 

That outside world wasn't clear enough, he needed someone he trusted enough to sit him down and explain what was going on, but he didn't trust any one to do that for him with out some ulterior motive. Maybe Peter but he couldn't put that responsibility on someone just now begining to find their feet. 

He couldn't explain anything inside his head either, he wasn't so sure if what he wanted was the exact thing he wanted. Of course FRIDAY was always willing to help but she was programmed to do what she thought best for Tony. And maybe what if what she thought was best wasn't Tony's best. 

Tony banged against the side of his head, confusion streaming from his head. He had so many things he wanted to do. At the very top of the list was run away but he knew that part couldn't possibly be best for him. The second thing he wanted to do was figure everything out but that wasn't an option either. This was going to take a copious amount of therapy he decided. Below his New Yoek stretched out like a blanket of life over so much more life, Tony could feel it. All of it was a life force, the metal buildings, the moving trains. People sipping their iced coffees and driving home from work as the sun sank. 

Tony wanted life to be like this, and like everything else. He wanted to see everything, breath in the air from almost everywhere. More importantly, Tony wanted to fly.   
"Mr. Stark? Tony looked up, "oh, hey kid?" Peter breathed out, "I thought you were a jumper." 

"So, Peter, Tones was telling me about some project you were doing in school on engineering." Peter froze looking up from his sandwhich, a tentative smile slashed through his mouth, "uh, yeah. No, it's really cool actually, we're supposed to take an example of robots made by big companies, like Ozcorp and Stark industries. So you know I had to pick Dum-E." Rhodey smiled as he spooned more chick pea salad onto his plate.   
"Is that so?" He side eyed Tont before adding, "Well I'm sure Tones would be happy to give you a few tips, right Tony?" 

Tony looked up,   
"I'm sorry what were we talking about?" Peter opened his mouth to explain,   
"-Oh! Right, the-that engineering project." Tony fidgeted with the table cloth, "I would love to help kid, but don't you think that's cheating." Peter opened his mouth defensively, "I never said I needed hel-",   
"But I'm sure Dum-E would love to have new sibling. You could ask him, he's in the lab I'll go get him."   
"Tones, Tones. We're eating dinner, wait till after dinner." 

Hope stared at Tony worriedly,   
"Are you sure your okay, you can go lay down if you need to." Tony shook his head, "No, I'm- It's not-I am fine!" He muttered to himself, his hand shaking, twitching nervously as pain raged over his body, pinching the nerves and pulling away, snapping back like an elastic band. He rubbed his chest in pain, "I'm...", he stopped and stared at Peter. 

"I'm fine."   
And yet, something in his whisperer darkly in the back of his skull.   
"Excuse me", he whispered running off to his room. 

The blinds had been pulled shut, they had been like that since Pepper moved out. He hadn't bothered to open them since than since he had no impulse to take care of his room beyond manually making the bed and keeping his bathroom spotless.   
"Boss?" A voice whispered worriedly. 

Tony ran to the bathroom running his hand under the water, scraping all the dead skin and remnants of an icy pain building at the nerves.   
"I'm okay Baby girl. I'm fine." FRIDAY had nothing to express herself but her voice and even then she gave off an airiness of an unsureness that Tony knew meant she had her metaphysical finger hanging over Rhodes speed dial.   
"You appear to be having an anxiety attack. Should I request Rhodey get you anything?" Tony shook his head, chuckling erratically, "No, no." He slammed his fists against the sink, "Don't", he croaked helplessly. "I just need some space." He turned off the faucet and dragged himself over to bed, rolling up in the bed sheets. 

"FRIDAY, open a new project."   
"Sir?" Tony ran a tongue along the lines of his cheek, "I wanna make another A.I. Tittle, Merchant." FRIDAY opened a file,   
"What should I label it's purpose as?" 

Tony closed his eyes thinking back into the crevice of his mind,   
"Mental assistance." 

From the depths of the Mariana trench a man over looked the on going work. The smell of work and metal curled in his nose, stifling the pain that came from his every waking step.   
"Is it working?" From the corner of the room a, assistant jumped back as a bowl of tiny beads convulsed, sitting up right and waving. 

"Uh...we believe so but might I just say-",   
"No, you may not."   
"But Mr. Fallas, please." Fallas turned around, jabbing his finger into his assistants death, "I don't believe I hired you for your opinion. Did I? Now get back to work, before I find someone more capable." 

He turned on his heels advancing to the next room, throwing the doors open,   
"How are we looking."   
"Sir, we've managed to locate when the Avengers will land and a general area of where."   
Fallas at cocked his head, "But?"   
"But we think it might be in a heavily populated area. It's to prevent the rogues from making contact with Stark."   
Fallas cursed, "listen, guys, guys. Come on, I said no one gets hurt but me. Having the Rogues land in a public airport isn't helping me. I thought you said you handled it."   
"We thought so too, the whole Council wanted Tony to meet them personally at his compound, but there was a woman- his CEO who demanded that they don't get the pleasantries of a private setting." Fallas rubbed his temples,   
"Son of a bitch. They should have stayed in Wakanda." 

He peered through his hands frowning,   
"Do we at least have a general idea of what I'm going to do?" One of the assistants grinned, "Well, sir. We did come up with this gritty back story for you about how Howard Stark fired your Dad which forced him to suicide so now your attacking Tony's weak points to force him to suicide."   
"Crass, continue."   
"We even came up with the perfect name." The assistant flicked a notepad over revealing a sketch of a man in a nanite suit, block letter bolded out to title it all. 

The Merchant of Death. He smiled, "Perfect


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY

The world stopped. 

Below her glass shards refracted in dizzying twists that pulled at her gut. She clutched her head trying to get a good grip on her reality.  
"That would be considered almost pathetic, Ms. Maximoff. I think we should try again, this time at a lower leval. Much lower." 

Four years ago the magical world cried out in a collective anguish.   
Four years ago Wanda Maximoff had first sparked a bit of energy from her fingers.   
Four years ago twenty HYDRA agents were marked as dead with out any explained reason, their minds if looked at the right away look positively disgusting. Gutted open and perverted, ripped through with little regard. Doors that shouldn't be opened, yanked wide, the handles knocked off. 

That was about two years before Stephen had started. But even now the waves of pain and disrespect so sickening rolled off Wanda as she threw energy balls at her every problem. 

Stephen had first tried to approach her problems with proper therapy and mediation. Every session would end with the same bottom line, her actions were excusable because her parents had been killed, whether or not Tony killed them she didn't care. Every time he heard her say it Stephen would wish silently he could smash Wanda's head in. If her actions were excused because her family was killed than Stephen should be allowed to use her powers as Scorcer supreme to get back Christine or torture some particularly annoying surgeons who had belittled him over the years. 

But he had let go of those problems. Which was more than he could say about Wanda. Everything ended in the same place everytime.   
"Would you explain to me why you believed that you should help Ultron like that."   
"I don't need to explain myself to you, he promised me revenge on Stark, I was just a kid. I didn't know."   
"Why did you blame Tony for what he did?"   
"He built the bombs that killed my parents."   
"He hadn't even been in charge of the company when the weapons were being made. He just stopped it after he learned what people were doing with them. In a way, couldn't you blame Mr. Barton seeing as how he brought your brother to the battle field?"   
"But he never dropped a bomb on us, I watched, hoping it wouldn't go off on my face, that I wouldn't die."   
"He was just a flashy name on the bomb. If someone throw a rock at you and the rock had a name and address on it would you blame the person who threw the rock or the person with their name on it."   
"If he handed the rock to the person who threw it at me yes." Strange sighed, continuing with the metaphor, "but what if he didn't, what if his friend just kept the rocks there because the person on the rock had more space to keep the rock there until the friend could hand it off to the person who threw the rock at you."   
"Well the person who sold the rock isn't here, so I'm going to settle for the next best thing!" 

Stephen had seen enough, he had given up on all pretenses. From the moment he realized Wanda was too filled with hate for her to be able to hold omething so dangerous, he workd to suppress her powers under the guise of control. Wanda would be as harmless as a gnat until needed and until then she was very limited to the things she did. He still didn't approve of the things Wanda did. Her anger was so fierce he swore it was like dipping his own mind on lava. 

Halfway through the night he would get terrified students knocking on his door asking him to get Wanda to stop digging through their heads while they were in a safe place. Eventually Stephen needed to sit down with Tony and ask him if this was new behaviour. 

Everett Ross could keep a secret apparently. Stephen came forward with his whole new world on the line and told Everett that he would help Wanda. Instead of forcing him and his new world to sign the accords he presented Stephen as a metahuman who didn't actively fight crime but just knew how to control similar abilities. 

Which meant the world to Stephen. Talking to Everett was so similar he couldn't quite place it, not he knew he could trust the man. But Ross made it clear he'd need to talk to Tony eventually, it was a matter of national security that he knew everything about the Rogues. 

Which is somehow how he ended up sitting in the waiting room of Stark industries outside Tony's office with a very real meeting. 

There were a million things going Stephen's head at once, he had met Stark before at a conference but this was much, much different. He knew even the smallest slip up would result in a hundred lawsuits and a hundred more problems. Stephen was ready to deal with an asshole. 

So when he stepped inside Tony's office and met a short, like really short man who had seemed so much larger than life Stephen had to stumble to prevent himself from loosing his breath.   
"Uhm, hello. Is this a bad moment?" Tony had his back turned on Stephen still but he was perched over his arm in work,   
"Ah, sorry no. I'm sorry."   
"What's that?" 

Tony turned, giving Stephen a fabulous smile.   
"Just work."   
The world had stopped. Stephen knew he needed to know everything about Tony.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelz

****__All Tony could do was stare.

His body had gone tense, like a deer stuck in the headlights. Occasionally his finger would twitch and his eyes would dart everywhere but the portal and the man. The palm of his hand hovered over a panick button,  
"Who are you?"  
"Mr. Stark, my name is Dr. Stephen Strange, I'm here to talk to you about a former pupil of yours, Wanda?"

Tony glared at him. A fear of portals had turned out being another one of those strangely obscure quirks that only Tony could have, it didn't affect him at all, unless he was asleep. And seemed entirely like an irrational fear up until this moment. Who did this dick think he was.

"Listen here, Gandalf. Wanda Maximoff was never a pupil of mine- will never be a pupil of mine and is better forgotten along with the rest of the rogues. Now please, please leave. And close that, that thing on your way out."

Stephen turned around almost comically, "The-the-do you want me to close the portal." Tony nodded into his hands, "Yes, please. Please turn it off." Stephen flicked his finger and the doorway collapsed,  
"I'm sorry, it's just-you don't seem like..you, did something happen?" Tony's fingers itched to knock back a bottle, He glared at Stephen and measured his next words.

"You caught me at a bad moment, schedule a meeting another hour or so from now on and so long as you don't make those things in front of me you can pop in any time you want, Mr.",  
"Dr. Stephen Strange."  
"Oh, ho. Mr. Big shot. If we're going by labels, you can call me Dr. Stark. If you ask nicely I'll even dress up in a pretty little nurses costume for you."  
"Promise", Stephen mused with far to much seriousness considering the joke. Stark stared at him for less than a second, sheer terror evident on his face before the expression crumpled and humor creeped through with small bubbly laughter that made Stephen's stomach consider a career in acrobatics.  
"Wh-what can you tell me about Ms. Maximoff?"  
"You mean me personally?"  
"Who else?"  
"I have a press statement I can give you." He rummaged around files, several papers on law spilling out. Stephen scoffed, "pretty broad topic of interest you've got going on here Dr. Stark. You've got everything from nuptial law to starting your own political party." Tony grinned, "I'm bored. I guess."

They were silent for a while before Tony handed Stephen the file. Stephen combed through it and found all the usual information.  
"This is pretty good, but maybe can you tell me about your personal experience?"  
"I-no, I can't."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I can't, I mean I don't know anything about my personal experience."

_Mr. Stark experienced mild hallucinations at the hands of Ms. Maximoff after she had ripped his greatest fear from his mind, sending him into a mental spiral. After that she repeatedly attacked him and seemingly forgave him until she figured out he had put her under house arrest during the accords. She put her, her brother and the whole world in trouble and has expressed no remorse, only an unwant die or be on the losing side._

"Wow. Blunt, thanks, Fri'."  
I'm happy to have helped.

Tony looked up from his project,  
"Does that answer your question?"  
"Absolutely, I shall tell Everett this, he'll want to know."  
"Wait, no-", Stephen waltzed out the door, shutting it behind him and opened a portal back to Karma-Taj.

The next time Tony met Stephen it was at a conference deciding on the parameters to the Rogues probation. Strange had implored the council into suppressing Wanda's skills and keeping her from battle until she let her anger go. Tony knew already it was a loss cause, so long as she looked pretty, and protecting no one cared.

After the conference Tony sat down beside a fuming Stephen a bright smirk on his face.  
"No one likes an I told you so but-", Strange smirked, "I told you so." Tony applauded, "see, your learning through the power of friendship, yay." He held out a bag of trail mix, "want some?" Stephen grabbed the whole bag, pocketed it and walked away.  
Tony grumbled, "Dirty trash wizard." As Strange walked through his portal, safely stashed in a closet, he whispered, "spoiled rich kid."

The third time he met Stephen Tony had finally worked up the nerve to ask him to lunch, purely for work. It had been a third of a year already and the wizard had appeared less than he wouldn've like, three small fists each month. But Tony was on TV and Hope had been talking to Strange.

So finally Tony decided to close the gap with food,  
"Hey, Potter. If you aren't so busy with you spelly-kins I was wondering if we could go to this Italian place my mom used to take me too. I know your supposed to talk this over with Hope but I was hoping you and I-",  
"Finally, Strange huffed out, "I don't really know how to react to PTSD so I've been trying to give you space to decide if you wanted to see more of me." He grinned in the sort of way that made glass swoon to the point of shattering. It made Tony feel like shattering.  
"I-", Stephen cut him off,  
"Italians sounds perfect, I'm free all week from four to ten, just say my name and I'm there."

He turned on his heels to flounce out the door before turning back and adding,  
"Oh and Tony?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Feel free to call at any time, ever." He nodded and left.

And all Tony could do was stare.


	13. Chapter 13- You know what that means. EVERYONE GETS ANGST!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst, Arguments, assholes!

"What did I do?"   
  
"What didn't you do!" Pepper wrung her hair nervously, pulling and knotting. The habit so foriegn on a woman so steadfast to a perfect image.   
  
"See that's funny, because I really feel that all of this wasn't my entire fault. Pep'," Tony grasped for the rights words, "Pepper we're not ideal for each other in this exact situation."   
"No, no, Tony don't say that."   
"I can't keep doing the taking a break game. I-I just can't Pep'."   
  
Pepper looked up through watery eyes,   
"We-we just have to figure some things out." Tony stared at her, this was the most human he had seen her in years. "Pep', god Pep', what do you want me to do? I love you, but-but I just...we're too similar, both of us can't be a perfect, hand-holding couple with no flaws. Jesus, I was born into fame and I feel like you put up more of a show for the camera, I don't think I've seen any kind of emotion unless your life was in danger!"   
  
Pepper stared at him stunned,   
"You-", Tony backtracked,   
" I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." Pepper wiped her eyes, "No, no. Clearly, you meant a little part of it, so tell me. What makes me seem like I'm emotionless, is it that I don't care about my boyfriend's life when he's going off god knows where? Is it when I support his decision to stop producing weapons because a part of me knows you're right! Tell me, what makes me seem so God damn heartless!"   
  
Peper huffed, her fists curled tightly. She glared as Tony elected to ignore her, instead, staring just above her shoulder.   
"What", she growled. Tony flicked his head and Pepper turned.   
" Oh", she smiled at a startled, guilty-looking Peter, "Peter." She smoothed her hair back and smiled her press smiled. And somehow, she has never looked calmer, puffy-eyed, frazzled, chest heaving as tears streaked across her cheeks.   
  
"That is what I'm talking about", Tony hissed. He rushed over to Peter assuring him softly that it was just a small fight and he didn't need to worry about anything.   
  
Pepper wiped her eyes and turned around the corner to rush out the compound.   
" Ms. Potts?" Happy held out a pair of keys to one of Tony's more sensible cars, a small smirk on his face.   
"Need a lift?" Pepper let out a sigh of relief, "Yes, yes I do."   
  
  
"And are you sure everything's alright Mr. Stark-",   
" Tony",   
"I could call Mr. Strange-",   
" Dr. Strange."   
"And we could all eat ice cream and watch that old people movie that you love with that guy in a leather jacket-",   
" Grease."   
  
  
Tony sighed, he had been stressed lately. A couple of days after he had met Stephen, Black Widow had been released early for negotiations on her contract with the Accords. A couple of days from now the Rogues would be back. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in,   
"You know what kid, you go ahead and call him." Peter rocked on the balls of his feet,   
"Okay, Mr. Stark, let me go get my phone."   
  
Tony fell back into his seat, the couch clinging to his thin frame. His hands curled around the remote and he began to flick through channels looking for something appropriate for Peter to watch.   
  
  
"You know I'm alerted every time you say my name or if you need me." Tony flew off the couch firing rapidly at the new voice. He lunged behind the couch, heaving for air.   
"Tony...it's me." Tony jumped up, "what the shit, Strange." His heart was still doing figure eights in his chest and his legs bounced rapidly. "I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry, oh my god, Stephen!" Stephen dropped the shield he had conjured up, "not a problem, FRIDAY, can you alert Tony the next time someone's sneaking up on him, me or anyone else."   
'Right away, Sir.'  
That was another thing Tony appreciated about Stephen, he never looked up at the ceiling or toward the speakers, he spoke as if Friday was someone he was on the phone with. Just like Tony did.  
  
  
"See, easy as that. And from now on I'll be careful not to portal near you, problem solved."   
"Problem solv-I almost killed you."   
"But you didn't, and you couldn't unless going in fully prepared."   
"But I-",   
" No buts, apology accepted, I get it I'm amazing. So what's this I hear about movie night." Tony gaped, "No, no you can't just-",   
" Already did", Stephen drawled, "get over it. Now move, I doubt you want me sitting on your lap, although I certainly wouldn't object."   
  
Peter walked in muttering worriedly,   
"Mr. Stark, I think I accidentally left my phone at Aunt May's. Oh, I'm staying the whole long weekend, I hope that's not a problem."   
"Kid", Tony said dazed, " I'll buy you Apple, just go get us some Popcorn and come watch Shrek with us."   
  
The weekend passed by without much of anything. It was pretty much just Tony, Stephen, and Peter. The compound was like a picture pulled out of a catalogue, untouched, perfect. By Monday Peter was getting ready to pack up when the elevator doors slid open and Rhodes rushed through typing madly on his phone.   
  
Seconds later Tony ran into the compounds living room, his eyes wide and terrified. Peter felt horrible about the strain Tony was going through, since the Rogues would be coming any day now he would be staying there indefinitely, and the rooms seemed to be filled with too many memories.   
  
"Pack your bags now, you're leaving early."   
"But I've got until Eleven!"   
"Don't care, Happy's taking you. Where the fuck is Stephen!" Stephen turned around the corner his fists bright with flames, "where are they!"   
  
Tony shook his head, "should be landing any second." Peter popped up,   
"Who should?" He trailed off, oh!   
"Wait! The rogues are coming here! Now!"  
"Which is why you've got to go kid!" Outside a quinjet hovered over the helipad making its descent.   
  
"Shit, shit, shit!" Peter jumped up to his room.   
"Kid needs a swear jar", Stephen joked weakly. Tony huffed, "I have to go greet him, don't I?" Stephen walked closer, hugging Tony tight.   
"No, I've made sure."   
  
  
The quinjets door slid open and the rogues poured out the door. Steve walked forward to Rhodey smiling,   
"Rhodey!"   
"It's Rhodes or James to you." Steve frowned, crossing his arms.  
  
"What did I do?"   



	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Strange bond. Or...?

Peter didn't like it. 

He'd been gone a week but everything still seemed tense. Everywhere Tony went Steve tried to follow after him like a lost puppy, his simpering was as digestive as acid and was so blatantly shitty Peter was surprised Tony hadn't realized he was being manipulated earlier. Peter was sure Stephen felt the same way about everyone on board. 

All of them were easily recognizable after the court case, except Sam seemed to be missing from the bunch, no matter. All of them knew how they treated Tony, they just were too toxic to think of a why. Stephen had gone to great lengths to make Steve look incompetent in front of Tony. 

When Tony was making coffee and Steve offered to help somehow the coffee machine spit brown goop back up at Steve's face. Or when they were practicing first aid and Steve had forced Tony to be his partner. Who knew it was possible to cut yourself on gauze, a super-soldier especially. 

Honestly, Peter didn't know how Tony didn't break down every time he saw Steve, the violent jerks away from his touch showed exactly how he felt. 

So Peter skulked from the rafters making sure Steve didn't overstep his boundaries.   
"Hey, kiddo." Stephen crossed his legs and floated beside Peter.   
"Hello, Dr. Strange."   
"Come on Peter, you have to at least call me Stephen, I saved your life."   
"You blew up a toaster when it startled me." Stephen chuckled, "I made it look like Steve had smashed it when he burned his toast." Peter chuckled appreciatively,   
"I webbed invisible webbing to his shirt, it's glued to his skin for another twelve hours and last night I stuck his shield to the ceiling." Stephen looked up and smirked, "You have done well young Spider." Peter punched his arm softly, "shut up before Tony hears you." 

Peter watched the others spar down below. Hope and Scott moved in fluid motions, like an effortlessly beautiful dance. Everyone denied Scott here but Peter could tell, just because he wasn't as good as the best doesn't mean he's not already amazing. 

Steve and Natasha were jerky, they'd stop to banter and land a quick punch before beginning to bicker again, it was too relaxed for what was supposed to be actual training and Peter felt like a part of it was just showing off. They played with Wanda, key word played showing her how to do things with a certain parental feeling that emulated playing catch. They smiled and cheered when she disarmed Steve or Natasha and walked her through everything like she was a toddler. 

Rhodes and Tony had an entirely different playing board, that was the more exercising than anyone else, besides Scott and Hope.   
Ever since he and Pepper had been attacked last year Tony had invested in more self defense.

"So...", Stephen drawled, " how did you and Tony meet?"   
"He tracked me down and blackmailed me into working for him because he was desperate for more manpower because apparently, he was worried about Siberia happening." Stephen clicked his tongue, "oh? Is he blackmailing you now?"   
"Nah", Peter said, "It was just that once because I didn't want to skip school over fighting in Germany." Stephen glared down at Tony, "well it sounds like I will be having words with Mr. Stark about this, trust me, Peter." 

Peter cackled,  
"Can you talk him into letting me join, too. I hate the word Junior Avenger." Stephen shrugged, "I'll see what I can do?" Peter glared mockingly, "you better." 

From down below Tony flagged Stephen.   
'Come here', he mouthed smirking. Stephen's smiled grew, he knew what Tony was doing. None of the other Avenger had seen him yet, Tony wanted to terrify them.

Stephen floated down to the ground, his cloak unfurled behind him. Wanda glared at him in terror, her lips simpering. Natasha had already cocked her gun.

"Excuse me", Captain roared, " who are you?" Tony walked forward grabbing Tony by the arm, "my friend," he leered. Stephen perked up at the tone and leaned closer to Tony. 

Steve stepped forward threateningly, his fists curled. Tony flinched away, eyes glazing over with images of the past.   
"FRIDAY," Peter whispered.   
'Yes Mr. Parker?"   
"Can I manipulate the security?"   
"I believe you do have access yes." 

Peter didn't like it, whatever Steve had done to Tony in Siberia was a thing of the past but he knew that he would do anything to prevent Steve from doing anything again


	15. Chapter 15

"That's just great!" 

Natasha slammed her hand on the console,   
'Ms. Romanoff, I suggest you refrain from wrecking any Stark tech unless you plan on paying it.' Nat glared up on FRIDAY,   
"That wasn't enough force to break anything." FRIDAY remained silent but somehow the room had gotten hotter than need be and Natasha couldn't see a way to lower it. 

"They can't do this," she muttered as her fingers dashed over the keypad. If Nat was worried about her cover after SHIELD fell it certainly didn't get any better after being publicly broadcasted throughout live television. And Fury refused to do anything about it.   
"I'm surprised they still have you around", Fury chuckled, "you're not much of a spy when you're wanted as terrorists, that new bee lady would do a better job than you." 

"They can't do this" Natasha insisted, "they should have barred my face off, do you know how many enemies I have who now know where I am?"   
"You better start kissing Stark's ass if you want any sort of security." Natasha shook her head, "He won't accept my apology, he'll flip me off and sick his kid on me."   
"I'm sure Mr. Stark would except your apology if you saw how immensely incorrect you were in that situation."   
"Yeah, I gotta' agree with the robot on this one, what the hell were you thinking to Widow. Signing that thing means you're tied down now, you won't be running from a country and coming back in a year or two when the heat dies down, you piss off a whole two hundred or something countries." 

Natasha closed her eyes, sighing,   
"I know! But if those assassins had ever made it out the whole world would've been under that weasel's greasy thumb."   
Fury scoffed, "that's not where you're wrong in this situation, you signed Widow. And-",   
"And I don't regret it."   
"Your funeral, then." The screen went black and Nat was left staring. "God- God damn it!"

She buried her face in her hands scowling.   
"Hey?" Nat's head snapped up as she reached to her side for a gun. She went slack as Tony sat across her. "I heard what happened-",   
"Were you spying", Natasha remarked bitterly. Tony scowled, "fine, I guess. I'm so worth more than this bullshit." He turned to leave but Nat stopped him, "Tony, I'm sorry. That was rude, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just pissed that they blew my cover like that."   
'Well they weren't too sure if you were going to run away during the trial or not, they wanted everyone to know your face." Natasha chuckled without mirth, "I know, shit, don't you think I know that? I spend every day with the knowledge that I'll pay for my decision, but I don't regret."   
"I don't either", Tony supplied, "I'm glad you did because then I'd be in the dark. I wouldn't have known what a huge piece of shit the Avengers collectively were, I wouldn't have known my teammates were keeping secrets, I wouldn't have met my family." 

He smiled at Nat,   
"You didn't do anything wrong with the Accords Nat, the only thing you did wrong was not telling me about my parents and pretending to know what I'm like at all." He turned on his heels and walked out the door, his fists curled tight. 

Natasha wanted to scream at him to grow up, she wanted to slap him across the face so that he could see how stupid he is but deep down Nat knew he was right. 

"FRI', can you turn on the news for me?"   
"Sure thing Ms. Romanoff." The TV beside her clicked on and a face covered in soot and ash glared down at her.   
"You thought you could escape me, you change your flight pattern but I will still find you, I know where to go. The old Avengers must die!" Nat groaned,   
"Oh for the love of-well that's just great!"


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I felt like writing angst and fluff so I compromised. I think?

"As you wish your majesty." 

Tony hung up and turned back to the Avengers,   
"So the mission for leads on the mysterious TV threat has been greenlighted- but only the new Avengers can go."   
"What's that supposed to mean", Wanda hissed. Tony pointedly ignored her,   
" so you guys know the drill if you don't, just go back to bed." 

Natasha leaned back in her seat,   
"With no offense to you here Stark. How am I supposed to sleep when someone threatened me with death publicly." Tony shrugged, "I don't know, but if public school students can do it then so can you." 

Tony stood up to walk out,   
"Spidey' call your aunt we're going to Saudi Arabia."   
'His aunt?' Scott mouthed, Steve shrugged back. Peter stood up grinning,   
"Will do Mr. Stark." 

As Tony left Steve followed him from a suitable distance until the man walked into an empty room out of sight, quietly he crept forward.   
"Boss, you've got Rogers on your six." Tony whirled around, his gauntlet out and loaded. 

"Hey, Tony it's me. It's fine", Steve moved forward to comfort him but the gauntlet mearly uped the power.   
" yeah no, shit Rogers that's why I'm shooting." He glared at Steve, cowering away. 

"Come on, Tony, let's be professional here. You don't want me to lodge a complaint with HR, right?" His joke fell flat and the awkward silence made Tony even more uneasy.   
"Listen, Rogers, I don't want any problems, I just needed to get out, I'm going to research the case more." 

Steve chuckled,   
"You should relax more," the way he said it had more meaning behind it but neither of them quite knew what he implied. 

Tony opened his mouth to speak but gold dust scattered across the floor and a portal opened behind him noiseless, he couldn't see it, he couldn't hear but still the feeling off something unknown behind his back made him shiver. Stephen walked through the portal and closed it behind him before tapping his fingers on the wall. Instantly FRIDAY alerted Tony.   
"Boss, Strange is here now." Tony ignored Steve instead turning to his friend and following him out the door. As Tony turned Stephen glared at him, tracing the tip of his finger across his neck like a threat. Steve saw red.

"He just doesn't want to talk to me." Sam glared at Steve,   
"I wonder why." Steve shook his head,   
"No, no, he would have forgiven me by now. I mean-I've forgiven him." 

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose,   
"Seriously dude, I was out on a date, you said this line was only going to be for important calls." Steve cocked his head,   
"What do you mean by date?" Sam shook his head,   
"It doesn't matter, what matters is that you said this would be important." Steve nodded,   
"Oh, it is, Tony's been hanging out with this guy now and I think-",   
" Don't harass, Strange."   
"I never said-." Sam pointedly glared at Steve, "Steve, don't." 

Sam hung up and turned back to his date.   
"I am so sorry about that," T'challa leaned close, his fingers curling around Sam's hand.   
"Don't worry about that. Worry about dessert, my love. I hear the chocolate mousse is mouth-watering." Sam chuckled,   
"As you wish your majesty."


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhmm, sorry if anything has been confusing. Point out plot holes in the comments-also I got a new auto correct so my spelling should clear up. 
> 
> Thank you!!!

Hope jumped. 

Her body twisted into a gorgeous arc until it collapsed, turning into nothing but a particle in the air.   
"So remind me why we're in Saudi Arabia again?" 

Tony flew beside her, his pseudo-son rolling past the crowd, attached to Tony's thrusters by his webbings.   
"The location our mystery man had recorded had come from Saudi Arabia." 

The man had worn a mask, it covered his lips and nose but the eyes were piercingly clear. Bright sharp blues filled to the brim with disgust and loathing. His breath had been garbled through a modifier and yet Tony could almost place his finger on where it came from. 

"Hey guys", Peter huffed out, "should I alert you if I see any mystery vehicles?" Tony looked back,   
"Why do you mean mystery vehicle- on shit!" A bright red car whizzed through the crowded streets, around it a whole motorcade walled out any nosey pedestrians. 

"Alright kid, stay here. Strange?" Stephen stepped out of a portal in local wear.   
"Yeap, I'm on their six," he ducked his head, weaving through the crowd.   
"I'll follow them from above, Boss." Hope flitted to the car's roof and landed, "Try and keep up, alright. They threatened Scott." 

"And heaven forbid someone threaten your ex-traitorous boyfriend," Rhodey quipped. Hope chuckled,   
"You know I'd almost be mad but then I realized that joke was older than you, so." Tony's mouth twitched with a smile,   
"Guys, come on. We can vote whose boyfriend is worse when we get home but let the record show I happen believe that Sergeant Barnes got the short straw on his boyfriend, plus technically he didn't target Scott, he threatened the old Avengers."   
"Wait, are Mr. Barnes and Mr. Rogers even dating?" Tony pinched the bridge of his nose,   
"Yes, Petie," he deawled, " they're dating just like how Stephanie and I are dating." On Strange's end of the line, he choked on air drawing unwanted attention to his presence. Stephen caught his breath,   
"Shit, I think I've been made." 

Tony shook his head,   
"No, Strange, wait there I'm coming." Hope hissed,   
"No, Tony. You can't just-", Tony landed between buildings and unsuited,   
" Stephen, I'm at the corner of the red building, can you make a break for it?' Stephen let out a strangled pause which prompted Tong to run even faster than before.   
"Stephen!" 

He pushed past crowds of people. His heart clutched in his chest and the air around him became rancid with panic.   
"Stephen." He jumped in front of the car's guard, Stephen grabbed Tomy's arm.   
"Tony," he said with too much patience for someone being pointed at with a gun, "What are you doing." 

Tony pushed him away,   
"I want to speak to your boss!" The man grinned darkly,   
"What makes you think my boss wants to talk to you?" A nanite gauntlet crept up his hand ready to fire,   
"Because I'm Iron man." The man frowned,   
"Fine, but your friend stays here." 

"No, no, Tony. I know that look, stop it," Tony leaned close and whispered in Stephen's ear,   
"I have a panic button in more places than they can imagine and if I'm not out in half an hour you can come get me." Stephen shook his head,   
"No, no, no-", Tony turned and followed the guard into a crumbling building.   
'Stay safe', Tony mouthed before disappearing behind a wall. 

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the world-famous Tony Stark." Tony looked up and frowned,   
"You're not TV guy." The woman in front of him pursed her lips,   
"Yes", she said dryly, "unfortunately I don't have the theatrics in me to be the 'TV guy', he's more of the action, while I'm the money." Tony nodded,   
"Ick, freeloaders, tell me about it. I had to pay for the whole of the Avengers accidents for a good four years." 

The woman smiled,   
"It's horrible right? One minute he says he needs this much and the next he needs more of it and now he has this expensive little fort in the middle of god knows where." She rolled her eyes, "fortunately he doesn't make too bad of a mess." She smiled sweetly, "but you never got that luxury, huh?" Tony pouted,   
"No, I didn't, doesn't that make me pitiful?" The woman arched a perfect eyebrow,   
"Almost, but not almost to just let you walk out of here."   
"Ah come on," Tony complained, "you're not even the guy I wanted to talk to, sure you're funding him but I think I'd rest easier with him arrested." 

"Aww", the woman said, " you act like you'd catch me. No, you won't. Which is why I suggest you come work for me."   
"To...", Tony question. The woman straightened in her seat, " I'm inviting you to come help me take out the old Avengers, forever." 

Tony scoffed,   
"Ah, sorry lady, I'm kind of adjusting to some of them, they can be quite nice and I'd rather earth's mightiest heroes be alive, just in case." The woman nodded,  
"Completely understandable, I myself hate disloyalty." She snapped her fingers, "But of course I can't let you go." Tony paled,   
"I'm sorry, wha-", the knife plunged deep into his sternum. And the lady watched with glee,   
" the man you are looking for Mr. Stark is The Merchant of Death and he says he has a personal vendetta with you." Tony spat up blood by her feet,   
"Yeah, well tell him to get in line." 

Stephen traced back and forth on the roof,   
"I don't like this." Hope stretched out on the car,   
"Oh, it's not so bad. At least I'm getting my sunbathing in." The woman walked out, dark shades covering her eyes,   
"Watch out for his magic friend, make sure he doesn't get to him." She spat on the ground and climbed into her car. 

Rhodes clenched his teeth,   
" Strange, take Peter through a portal and bring back Tony, Hope follow that woman at a safe distance." Stephen grabbed Peter by the arm and pulled the younger through,   
'Got it.' 

Hope buried herself in a place between the seats,   
"Way ahead of you." She clung tight as the car drove off. 

"Oh my God, Mr. Stark!" Peter rushed forward and clung to Tony,   
"You're going to be alright, I have those first aid webs we can use." Tony nodded,   
"Oh, hey-hey kid, I-I got the wrong guy." Peter shool his head,   
"That doesn't matter-jus-just, please Mr. Stark don't go to sleep." Tony pat Peter's cheek,   
"How many times have I told you not to call me that, call me...call me Ton...", his eyes fluttered shut and Peter cried out. He turned on Stephen with the fury of a star in his eyes,   
" if you even care about him in the smallest you will open a portal to the hospital now." Stephen wasted no time,   
"Yes, of course." 

The portal opened below them into Avengers tower.   
"Rhodes I'm opening one for you, prepare yourself." Rhodey blinked and instantly he was back in New York.   
"Hope", Stephen called, " do you need a portal?" Hope shook her head grinning,   
"Nope, I'm following a lead." 

The woman slid out of the car to an airport, a leather suitcase clutched in a shaking fist.   
"I'll call you when I need help, for now, I'm good." The suitcase clipped the door and Hope jumped.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has PTSD from the PSA videos.

The room was stiff with rage. 

Peter glared into the glass. Strange stood next to him from a safe distance,   
"What did you mean earlier when I was with the portal." Peter bit his cheek,   
"I'm not letting another Steve hurt him again, so after this, you need to tell him something, I don't care but you better leave." 

Stephen looked at him shock,   
"What do you-",   
" he doesn't need any more gold-digging bitches after him, right? He doesn't need it when he's healthy, he certainly doesn't need it when he's hurt."   
"Peter I'm not trying to get anything out my relationship with Tony." 

Peter gave him a side glare,   
"Really? So all this Avengers stuff-",   
" it's a coincidence, I'd love Tony even if worked out of his garage." Peter smirked, "love?" Stephen turned pale, "No, I never said that, and you won't tell him I said that." Peter shrugged,   
"I might forget about it for now, but you've been warned, you hurt him even once I web you to the nearest bridge in your underwear." Stephen nodded a little too quickly bit the thought sent horrified crawls up his spine.   
"Deal." 

"What is going on here?" Steve rushed over to Stephen with piercing eyes, "Did you hurt Tony?"   
"He didn't do anything, unlike some people." Steve raised himself to his fullest, "what are you implying, son?" 

"Guys", Stephen shouted, "He's bleeding out here!" Vision rushed forward arms out stretched,   
"Here, allow me, Doctor." Stephen paused and turned to look back at Peter, Peter tilted his head and sneered,   
'Web you', he mouthed furiously. Strange nodded, "Of course Vision, take good care of him." Vision lifted Tony from his arms and floated toward the infirmary. 

"What the hell happened out there," Steve demanded. Peter scoffed, "like you care!"   
"I do actually care a lot about my friend," Steve said cooley, "who are you anyway? You're the only here who hasn't given away their secret identity, not even Hope or Scott get that privilege, so what makes you so god damn special," the corner of Steve's lip folded and his nose crinkled shadowing the green in his eyes, "why do you get something the rest of us don't?" 

Peter nearly ripped his mask off in a rage, his hands shook over the webbers,   
"I earned that privilege, Rogers! Scott lost it Germany, screwing it up for Hope and her Dad! You don't get to decide what's right and wrong for everyone because someone shoved a bunch of steroids up your red, white and blue ass!" 

Everyone in the room recoiled in shock, this is the most Peter had said to the old Avengers and he was yelling it too.   
"Don't walk around demanding equality, you piece of fake feminism shit. You can't ask for that! There are reasons I get a mask and the others don't, don't even pretend that makes me a bad person. Jesus, you're like every privileged kid I've ever met, throwjng a tantrum when the less privileged get treated differently!" 

Peter huffed, shaking his head,   
"You are not Captain America, don't pretend you are. That was something created to sell war-bonds! You can't let the lie go too far, pull your head out of your ass before you lose Steve Rogers." Peter turned abruabruptly his heels to the med-bay. Stephen smiled sheepishly,   
"I'll go with him?" 

"You did what!" Fallas slammed his fist against the desk, "I said we only target the Rogues! The Rogues! Now you tell me you stabbed Iron Man in the gut!" The woman smiled impishly and shrugged,   
"No one's going to buy it if I let him go."   
"So you could have- you could've rustled him up a bit, not stab him!" 

"Listen", The woman screeched, " I did what you asked, I'm helping you. But you need to actually get stuff done! I won't fund a failing project, you've only gotten this far because I hate the Rogues as much as you do," she clutched a chain around her neck, "Ruin them, kill them, hurt them, I. Don't. Care. The only thing you need to do is make them feel pain! They need to know that there are consequences." 

Fallas nodded,   
"I promise I will deliver, Ms.-But if Tony Stark gets hurt again then I might just start using a little bit more lively dummies for firing practice " The woman glared at him, "fine but I want results, Friday." He smiled,   
"Fine." 

The room felt stiff with rage.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wakes up and Hope finds clues to Fallas's identity

"What's going on?" 

Tony opened his eyes and breathed deeply.  
"Holy shit, kid." He gripped Peter's hand tight, "are you okay?" Stephen scoffed,  
"You just got stabbed and you're asking if he's alright." Peter patted Tony's hand, "I'm alright, Mr. Stark." Tony groaned, "kid, it's Tony! Call me Tony." He huffed, "kids these days, your generation is too respectful. Always with their please and thank yous. It's sickening." 

"You're just old," Stephen said fondly, Tony slapped him playfully, "sheesh, again with the flirting."  
"You don't dislike it", Stephen insisted. Tony nodded dreamily, " mmyeah, I don't." 

Peter coughed awkwardly,  
"Uhm, guys, I think we need to focus on the fact that Tony just got...you know, stabbed?" Stephen nodded, "of course, I'm sorry," he smiled sweetly at Tony, "I'm just glad he's alive." Tony opened his mouth to speak but a knock at the door disrupted his line of speech. Tony cleared his throat,  
"Com-come in?" 

The door slid open and Natasha crept into the room her head held high and toes pointed to the foot of Tony's bed.  
"Hello, Tony. I'm sorry to interrupt but we need to discuss an agent of yours that's still currently deployed in the field." Tiny huffed, "good to see you too, Romanoff. You said an active agent, who-",  
"Unfortunately Ms. Vandyne had the opportunity to pursue your attacker, she took it in your second in commands request which frankly Steve and I believe to be-",  
" where's Roger anyway", Tony joked, clapping his hands together like he was tapping his fingers out of boredom, "usually he's the one up my ass about this stuff." 

At Steve's name, Peter and Stephen tensed. Natasha smiled tartly,  
"Steve decided to give you space after speaking with a member of your...your-Uhm, team? She smiled reassuringly, " nothing to worry about of course." 

Tony tilted his head,  
"Who-",  
" it doesn't matter", Stephen reassured him, "what matters is you're awake and Hope is being watched under heavy surveillance, she will be fine and soon she'll be brought back home." 

"Mother fucker," Hope whispered as she ran along with the rafting, her heels clicking. A swarm of flies followed behind her swooping down to land on her. "God damn people, buy a fricking fly trap, jeez." She slid off the rafting and vaulted forward, her wings outstretched to let her soar across the room and down near the woman and her associate. 

She landed and crouched behind a mug to listen in on the conversation.  
"That is the worst idea I have ever heard, ever from literally anyone." The man frowned,  
"Well of course you wouldn't believe it, you know me, they just think I'm some random pissed off guy." The woman rolled her eyes, "do you know how many death threats Stark gets a year? You have to be bigger, no one's going to believe a twenty-some-year-old with a dead daddy is that desperate to kill all the Avengers." 

"I'm seventeen," Fallas snaped, "and they'll believe it, trust me if Stark's to blame they can't see three feet in front of them." Hope leaned closer to get a better look. Fallas smiled snidely at the woman, "the Avengers are a bunch of bitches who deserve more disgrace than humanly possible, you deserve closure, I'll handle this, it won't be harder than wrestling with a worm" 

The woman nodded,  
"I'm sure you will now get on it before I-", the mug in front of Hope toppled at her strength sending coffee flooding everywhere. The woman jumped up to her feet and rushed to contain the spill.  
"What-", she paused and watched as Hope tempted to breaststroke through hot coffee. " Fallas, come look." 

Fallas leaned in and scooped Hope up with his pinky. He chuckled, with the grin of a child on his face,  
"Oh, it's little Hope." He held Hope under the woman's face, "say hi to little Hope", he waved, " Hi, Hope. Would you be nice and go back to your original size for me?" 

Hope grew back to her original size and sat in a stool.  
"What's going on?"


	20. Chapter twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope finds out who Fallas is and Tony needs more coffee.

The world was dark. 

The smell of sweat and earth clung to Hope's nose. Her eyes were wide open and yet the world was darker than the back of her eyelids. She had been tied to a chair, a sturdy metal one drilled into the ground, and gagged with a thick cord of rope. She jerked, her arms had been bound as well as her legs, she swore through an open mouth. 

"Hello Ms. VanDyne, it's a pleasure to meet you." Hope jumped up into the darkness,   
"Wh-who", her lips quivered, ever so slightly and barely traceable if it weren't for her words sticking with each twitch, "who are you," she managed, "the last thing I remember is unshrinking in your office-why am I here?" Fallas sighed,   
"Well it's not like I wanted you here, I just want the old Avengers, more specifically, the Rogues. But I need to prove a point by calling all of them out like this, all of them. Including Tony." 

Hope looked into the void,   
"Tony? What does he have to do with this?" Fallas flicked the lights on and grinned,   
"Why Ms. VanDyne, he has everything to do with this." Hope blinked away the stream of light filtering through the bulb,   
"Who are you?" Fallas shook his head, "that's the wrong question, missy." Hope glared, "Well what is the right question." Fallas cursed, "not a single one of you idiots are fit for the job you have." 

At those words Hope seemed to have regained her feet and remember who she was and how she should react.   
"Listen here you little pip-squeak, you're not going to let me go, I'm going to get out here and personally shrink you down so small when you get eaten by a tardigrade and shit out nobody could properly mourn you." Fallas grinned, "oh there it is! Tony hired you to be the new Widow since she went off to go play mean girls with Captain assface. I thought you would be another basic bitch." 

He scootd closer,   
"So, do you have the right question yet?" Hope jerked in her chair,   
"Let me go." Fallas shook his head, "come on, don't tell me you're that boring." He fidgeted with a wire in his calloused fingers. Hope paused to watch him fidget,   
"Why do you care so much?" Fallas jumped to his feet, his hands flying up into the air, "give the girl a pony-err, ant...well you get the point. Why do I care so much indeed? Tell me, Hope, how well do you know Tony?" 

"Tony, Tony, please. You need to stay in bed." Tony shook his head,   
"Hope is out there, we don't know who has her but now our top priority is finding her." Strange loomed over Tony, his cloak unfurling like wings from his back,   
"Anthony Stark you are not to leave this bed unless you feel like being bound down with chains." Tony raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "kinky", he deadpanned before hobbling to the next room over, clutching his wound. 

"Now what are we going to do," Peter wondered, "he's going to tear his stitches." Strange sighed, "well we can't stop him, he's going to insist that he keep working till he drops." Peter jerked his head toward Tony, "well?" Stephen shook his head, "well what?" 

Tony stirred his coffee, listening intently as Rhodey debriefed him about the mission. His chin rest of the edge of his palm, his eyelids fluttered softly and the information didn't seem to reach him fully. He began to nod but his chin slipped and he nearly faceplanted into his coffee. 

"Go talk to him," Peter insisted, "he's your crush."   
"And he's your father," Stephen cried out. Peter glared at him, "I'm gonna' tell him." Stephen glared at him, "Peter Parker- Stark you will not or else you're grounded." Peter rolled his eyes, "okay, Mom." 

Tony shook his head and blinked away sleep,   
"I-", he gulped his coffee with a scary speed, "okay, please tell me, where are we Hope wise?" Rhodes watched him with a look of pure terror, he cleared his throat and averted his eyes muttering about heart attacks and cause of anxiety.   
"Hope had shrunken down and attached herself to the woman-",   
"The one who ordered me to be stabbed." Rhodes flinched, "ah...yes?" Tony clapped, "well it's settled, let's give Ns. Vandyne a call and go pop in, eliminate the threat, find the target, all that stupid military lingo." He grinned, "we good?"   
Rhodes shook his head,   
"Ah, actually know, two hours ago Hope's com went down." Tony's eye twitched, "What?" The mug trembled in his hand, "what do-", 

The TV crackled with static and switched on to the news. Fallas appeared in front of Hope, wrapped in a leather mask.   
"The old Avengers end tonight, the coordinates are in your own computer, meet me there if you want your friend back, alive. All of you!" 

The TV flickered off and the world went dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost to the end! Thank God. I really appreciate most comments people-unless its hate or spell corrections. Because come on you should know what you're getting into on an anti Team cap fix with no editing. Really looking forward to my next chapter and until next time tomorrow.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OH GOD I'M SO EXCITED

"Hey, Tony." 

Rhodey snapped a finger under his eyes, Tony focused on his fingers, "wha-", Rhodey shook his head, "wake up, Tones, we need you, you left planet earth for a second." Tony looked up at the screen in desperation,   
"That's Hope", he exclaimed, "she's- she was tied up." Rhodey nodded, "yeah Tony, but she's kind of a badass, I think she can handle herself. For now, you need to help us assemble the team." Tony nodded, "right...that's right." He stood up, ignoring the worried looks Peter and Strange sent him. 

He opened his console for coordinates.   
"FRIDAY?"   
"On it, Boss." A small field pulled up on the screen, a small ditch in the middle of it with a patch of grass. "It looks safe", Tony mused.   
"And overkill," Steve shot back. Tony whirled around,   
"Cap-Captain." Steve walked up to the console and beside Tony ignoring the way the room collectively tensed.   
"You know this obviously a trap right?" Tony nodded,   
"I'm not stupid Rogers, literally the first thing he said was that the Avengers must die, not very subtle." The corner of Steve's mouth tucked up with a smile, he cradled Tony's shoulder reassuringly, "we don't give up on soldiers, Tony, we'll get her back." 

Tony rolled his eyes,   
"I'm going to ignore the fact that you just called my closest friend soldiers, she's an agent if anything and shall be treated as such. Even if we do get there and aren't instantly killed we need to understand this guy, coming from out past track record he's probably angry over New York or something but he wants us at some back alley field, not publicly, he's either caring or smart-maybe both. Less people, fewer obstacles, just like a training session, but we have no idea what this guy can do. He called once from some middle eastern state and now from- where FRIDAY?"   
"The Italian, Germany border."   
"Boom, we don't know the guy at all except that he's got Hope." 

"So we bring out the big guns", Steve insisted, "you said you were working in experimental tech, bring it in, just in case He isn't aware of it, and he doesn't seem to be aware of-", his eyes twitched toward Peter, "of-of Spider-Man, so just bring him in."  
"Nu-uh, I'm not bringing the kid in",   
" He's not a kid", Steve insisted stubbornly. "But Wanda was?" Steve sighed and to Strange's horror he placed a comforting hand on Tony's neck, "I know you don't like it but this is the best option don't let your stubbornness ruin this team,-", Peter slapped Steve's hand away, " fuck you, man. Come on Tony, let's go get the rest of the team together." He pulled Tony down into the gym where the rest of the group was waiting, Rhodes following after. 

Steve sighed,   
"They can't see what's best for him."   
"What and you can?" Stephen stalked forward, his cloak billowing behind him, "why do you know what's best for him." Steve sighed, "You know, Sam told me not to bother you, I'm trying, really I am but maybe if you could mind your own business?" Stephen's eyes sparked gold, "If it's Tony's happiness it will be my business all the way until he asks me not to." 

Steve glared at him,   
"Don't pretend to know him, I knew his father, I-",   
" No, you didn't." Steve glared,   
"excuse me?" Stephen's hands twitched, "You didn't know his father, you know Howard Stark, you knew a hopeful entrepreneur who didn't love you more than his own family. And he didn't love you because of any sort of thankfulness or appreciation, he thought of you as an old invention that he could maybe find in the back of his very cluttered closet so he can make it better. You didn't know the drunkard or the cheater. Ask Hope's father, he was ripped off because Howard thought he saw a few bucks to be made." 

Steve blanched,   
"How dare you, Howard did what he-",   
"It bothers me that when Howard makes weapons in the war he's a hero but when Tony shuts it down in times of...okay not peace, but as peaceful as we can get now, he suddenly becomes the bad guy." Stephen's hands sparked with white and blue, "Tell me, did someone tell you to always blame Tony or did you just notice everyone else did it." 

Steve ground his teeth,   
"What makes you so special, don't act like you're always a saint to Tony,"   
"I treat him like I treat any person." Steve slammed his fist against the table,   
"He's not any person, he's an ass-hole who covers everything up with money."   
"Like you cover up your problems with guilt?" Stephen clenched his fist tight and Steve's mouth was glued shut. He looked up at Stephen with panic, his fingers struggle to open up his lips. 

"You took away, Tony's voice, now I'm going to take away your own, you manipulative piece of shit. Hope you're not a mouth breather." Stephen waved him off, "Ciao." 

"We'll portal at the entrance of the island and walk-in, Petey will web in from the back with the nanites I built. Any questions-no, let's get this shit over-",   
" what about your fear of portals?" Stephen floated in landing next to Tony. Tony sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't mention that I'll be fine." Stephen bit his lip, "...fine, but only if you're fully suited." Tiny smiled, "thanks, Bae." He continued to point out back up plans and how they need to execute the plan in the first place, halfway through Wanda raised her hand- Stephen's pretty sure she's not all well, her ability to form opinions and decision making is poor at the very least but given the fact that she can't act unless someone tells her exactly how is worrying, he supposes it's an excess urge from her time with HYDRA. 

Tony smiled through thin lips,   
"Yes, Wanda?" She smiled coldly, "what happens if he knows of..Peter's existence?" Tony wavered,   
"I'll portal him right out", Stephen assured them, "he won't get hurt." Tony nodded, "everybody ready-good." 

The team funneled out into the great lawn in each of their respective teams-weirdly nobody seemed to notice Steve's loss of the ability to talk.   
"Everybody ready?" Everyone nodded and the portals opened. "Go, go, go!" Cap's team left, then Tony's and finally Peter and his new pet nanobots that Tony had equipped with a full A.I, the closest thing a male could produce with an actual soul. 

Finally, Stephen jumped through his own portal out into a vast green field under a sky filled with clouds.   
"Everybody ready?" Tony gave then the signal and the Avengers trecked up the hill to the center. 

"Hope, you alright," Scott called out. Hope spit out her rag,   
"Tony, don't attack, it's-", Fallas ripped her mouth tight, " now, now, now bumblebee, we don't want to give away the game." He tied her gag back in,   
"Alrighty, folks, whos ready for boring monologue storytime?" He stepped up from the ditch and opened his mouth to speak.   
"Incoming," Peter screeched as a thousand nanobots shot Peter forward like a bullet, "super, robot kick." His foot curved out and soared for Fallas' head. 

Fallas sighed,   
"For the love of-", his own nanites climbed out from a funnel in his backpack, shielding Peter's foot. He grabbed Peter by the leg and threw him back into the crowd.   
"No more half-cocked surprises? Good. As I was saying-",   
" Avengers," Natasha screeched, "assemble." 

Fallas jumped back as the full force of the team fell upon him. He sighed,   
"Come on guys, it's like a good villain can't even villain anymore." He jabbed a finger to Wanda's temples covering her body in nets of electricity, she spasns falling over. "Anyway, My name is Fallas." Steve punched him hard, shaking him to the core knocking his breath away, Fallas coughed as the air escaped his lungs. 

"Son of a bitch", his voice was muted from the mask but it felt so familiar to Tony. Fallas pinned Steve back to the ground. Stephen advanced on him with whips if light, cracking the hair with a standing heat, the nanobots meshed together like a woven tapestry and shot a jet of ice fluid on his hands encasing them. Stephen cursed, hiding his hands close as the locked up with tremors of pain. 

" Anyone else wanna go?" Fallas mocked. Vision evaporated from particles,   
"You can not hope to defeat me."   
"Oh, yeah," Fallas laughed, "let me just control Alt Delete your bitch ass." His fist was built upon into the likeness of a sledgehammer, he took aim at the mind stone and swung. Vision caught it and threw him across the field. 

Fallas jumped,   
"Whoo! Let's do that again!" He rocked in his heels, "fight me bitch." Vision grabbed him by the neck, "this ends now." Fallas shook his head,   
"No thanks", he slammed a piece of alien tech to Visions chest freezing him. 

Tony cried out,   
" no!" He watched Fallas threw Natasha across the grass and pinned down Rhodes effortlessly until he reached Scott who he flicked away without a thought.   
"Pathetic", he remarked, " I want you all to know what you did to me." He ripped his sweater sleeve up to reveal a curling white scar, like a claw. 

"Ultron dropped a building on me, tell me, which among you were responsible for this, who took away everything from me, my family is dead! My body is a living hell to even try and function in, tell me who's responsible!" 

All the Avengers looked up and around, Peter shook his head slightly, they wouldn't speak.   
"None of you will take credit." Fallas walked through the lawn nudging Wanda with his foot,   
"I want to know who left me an orphan." Wanda grit her teeth,   
"Tony Stark!" Fallas paused, "Tony Stark...he was responsible for everything, all of it?" Hope screeched furiously from where she was bound. Wanda nodded, "he slaughtered hundreds of people with his weapons, he murdered my family, my brother. He created Ultron to replace all weapons but instead made a far worse weapon." Fallas nodded. 

"So is this true?" He stepped in front of Natasha a cold silence masked by frozen over eyes. "Do you all agree?" Natasha looked away guilty, "he wasn't not responsible." Fallas cackled, "oh man, that's rough." He kicked Save with the toe of his boot like he touching him was disgusting. 

"Mr. Rogers, you've been awfully quiet." Stephen burst into laughter,   
"Oh...that's because I muted him." He winced clutching his hands close,   
"Tony wasn't responsible, he wasn't even involved with the creation of Ultron." Fallas stooped down to Steve's level,   
"Do you believe that Private Rogers?" 

Steve glared up at him. Fallas stood silent, Steve nodded, his glare sliding over to Tony. Fallas stood up,   
"Weak, all of you, no loyalty." He loomed over Tony, "I wouldn't even trust these people to work with me," he sniffed, "you must have the patience of a saint." The nanobots on his suit fired up ready to shoot pure, unfiltered energy. 

"Do you confess to your sin." Tony hung his head, hiding tears,   
"I do." Peter screamed out, reaching forward, "No, Tony. No!" He struggled, the nanites had pinned his leg down but if he could just pull it up or slid out he could-. 

Fallas readied the laser pointing to his head.   
"Well then, sucks to be you." Tony closed his eyes and waited for the shot. It never came. He opened his eyes and stanmered.   
"Wha-?" 

Fallas unlocked his mask letting it fall to the ground. Tony's eyes went wide,   
"H-Harley?" Harley smiled warmly,   
"Hey, Tony."


	22. I'M BACK!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK!!!!

"What the fuck!" 

Hope spit out her gag,   
"Not one of you could take a civilian kid with no training and no previous experience!" Steve struggled to speak, pointing at his mouth.   
"Shut up, Steve, I'm busy yelling at you." Hope stomped up to Widow glaring at her, "And you, I thought you'd gotten over yourself, 'he didn't not do anything?' What the fuck get over superiority complex. And you-Wanda, however angry you are we do not throw our team mates under the bus to save our own asses!"

"I like her," Harley whispered, "she's the only good one I've met so far." Tony smiled and for the first time in awhile the happiness reached his eyes, "Wait till you meet the kid, or the sorcerer." Harley shrugged, "until I see it, I don't believe. Although the wizard did seal Roger's mouth shut." 

"Not quite sure but I think the kid threatened Cap, I was half out of it but I heard something of being a nobody with steroids shoved up his red-white and blue ass." The corner of Harley's mouth twitched, "alrighty, kids on my okay list for now."   
"I don't even know what's going on right now but I've never been prouder." 

"Just you wait-I'm not even close to being finished, as soon as Everett sees the footage they're wrecked" Tony groaned, "kid, you so owe me." Harley shook his head,   
"You have no idea, I'm going to drag the Rogues through the mud." 

"Mr. Stark?" Peter crawled up from ground, "is the coast clear? Can I get up?" Harley raised his eyebrow, "Mr. Stark?"   
"It's more like a nickname instead of title-I told you kid, call me Tony!" 

Peter shook his head stumbling,   
"Who's this?" Harley grinned,   
"Hey, cutie, I'm Harley what's your name?" Peter blinked, "fuck off," he blurted, scuttling away toward Stephen as Hope continued to tell off the Rogues. 

"How did you even, I just-" Tony shook his head, "how did you afford all of this?"   
"I may have, may have not asked a different billionaire for help but had plans to betray her once I got the Rogues failing on camera." Stephen warily approached them, his cape covering Peter's face,   
"Tony, why don't you introduce me to your..friend? Son? I'm still not sure who this is." 

Tony sighed,   
"Peter, Stpehen, this is my biggest pain in the ass, Harley Keener. He saved me a couple years back." Harley smirked,   
"What up, I'm Harley, I'm nineteen and I never learned to read." Peter covered his face snorting, "oh my god," he mumbled. 

"Literally none of that made any sense." Harley shrugged, "you were born in the wrong generation old man." Stephen nodded, "yes, I see why he kept you now."   
"Hey," Harley scoffed, "If anything I kept him, he was the one who crashed into my garage." 

"Tones," Rhodes called, "we have a problem." Rhodey handed a burner phone over to Tony, "Harley dropped it earlier." Harley's hand flew to his back pocket, "shit," he yelled, "that is mine, that must be my investor." 

Tony put the phone to his ear,   
"You've reached Tony's bail bonds, you want your guy back you better talk fast."   
"Did you really think I'm that stupid?" Tony winced, "no, mam'."   
"Good so we both agree that Fallas betraying me was completely unprompted." Tony gaped, "she knows," he mouthed. 

Harley jerked his head, "give me the phone."   
"Put Fallas on," she demanded. Harley yanked the phone from Tony, "H-",   
"You promised me vengeance!"   
"Their careers will be ruined!"   
"I want them to die just like my parents did at their mercy." Harley shook his head, "I'm not a killer, if you want them dead do it yourself." 

The woman sighed,   
"Why did I know that was exactly what you were going to say." She huffed, "you've got three hours to deliver the Rogues to me or else I drop an info bomb of everything you've collected into the deep crevices of the internet." Harley shook his head, "wait-",   
"Do it!" 

Harley hung up.   
"Tony, we've got a problem."   
"What the fuck?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The exciting climax.

"Absolutely not." 

Harley glared,   
"Absloutly, Private Rogers. You're a hero, heroes act as bait." Steve stammered,   
"That's-no. Heroes stand with their peers instead of gathering data on their weaknesses."   
"I never said I'm a hero, I said that's what heroes in general do, Rogers. Are you saying you ain't a hero?" 

Nathasa but in, brushing dust of her suit,   
"This doesn't matter-we shouldn't have to negotiate or become bait in the first place, how much did you exactly collect...Harley." 

Harley looked up at Tony, pouting. The look Tony sent him could kill a man.   
"Fine," Harley sighed, "I collected enough information that someone could launch a formidable attack on Avengers tower and compound. And on all of your backgrounds-except Spiderman, he was off limits." 

"Problem solved," Wanda concluded, "nobodies secret identity are in the balance-",   
"I also included every file I've collected on each any every one of your crimes. Everything remotely incriminating, including your affiliations with HYDRA Ms. Maximoff, letting her release the infor bomb will only make the sokovia accords harder on you." 

Steve worked his jaw,   
"The people know-",   
"Do the people know how many Agents SHIELD tortured for their own sake, or how many people you screwed over for your own? Factually accurate, very biased. You'll be absloutly ruined." Nathasha swore in Russian,   
"Of course." She turned on Tony fuming, "this is all your fault, this kid-". 

"I haven't talked to Tony in ages, cameras still going. It's still recording every little petty squabble." Steve sealed his lips.   
"I will be inserting this as evidence for a restraint order against you guys too." 

Wanda flared, "you can not do that!" Her magic coiled out to reach for him. A spiral of gold caught the mist, slapping her away.   
"Don't put your hands on minors Ms. Maximoff. As someone who has Jose behind shield of excuses you of all people should know how dire people can be treated for disrespecting them." 

Natasha's eyes slid over Harvey.   
"Where's the camera," she whispered.   
"Wouldn't you like to know," Hope countered, "you'd probably steal it and delete the footage, make you guys seem like the victim. Oh poor me, I'm only in the Avengers because I slept with all the judges."   
"That's not even true," Natasha shouted. 

"Can we focus on the Info bomb," Rhodes shouted, "is there anything else we should know?" Harley shook his head, "Nah, I predicted this would happen. I lied. All of it is just shit on the Rogues, I just didn't really like to be rushed like this, I have to push all my plans ahead of schedule. I just wanted to give them one last chance to prove theirselves innocent." 

He opened a screen on his phone, dialing a number.   
"Hey, it's me. We've got a code nine, you know what to do." He hung up, "info bomb has been dropped." 

The Rogues stared on, furious, unable to speak. 

Stephen held back a snort,   
"I-uh," he cleared his throat, "should I portal us back to them-the compound?" Tony swallowed his smile,   
"Yes that would be the good idea." 

Stephen opened a portal.   
"Anyone?" Hope ducked her head, holding her laughter in as Scott dragged her in. The ground shook when James rushed past to avoid the Rogues anger. 

"Mr. Stark," Peter asked. Tony was glowing with pride,   
"Go on, Peter, I'll see you in a minute." Harley chuckled, "come on, Spidey-boy," he yanked Peter hand, following the others behind. "Hey, I'm seventeen."   
"Oh really?" 

Stephen stood beside Tony holding his hand out for the other,   
"Are you ready," he whispered softly. Tony looked back at the Rogues, "well, I wish I could say you assholes didn't deserve this." 

Steve stepped forward tentatively,   
"Tony, I'm-", Tony glared turning on his heels,   
"Absloutly not."


	24. Epilogue

"Are you happy?" 

Harvey flipped through the news channel smirking. The Rogues sat on the other side of the judge, shrinking under his scrutiny as Pepper rattled reason after reason the Rogues had ruined Tony's life, Harley could tell a small part of her took joy in knowing that the first thing she had ever messed up so badly would be hammered in without mercy. 

The judge announced the juries role to deport Wanda back to her native city and Harlet nearly cackled at the look of devastation that washed over her face. The look on Steve's face when they announced he would have to stay on probation and isolation until he could be trusted was even better. He turned back to Stephen smiling like a snake, the kind of smile that made his obstacles back away in fear,   
"Yeah, I'm absloutly thrilled." 

"Are you happy", May asked, "I know I said I don't trust him but I've been thinking about letting him keep you around more." Peter bit his lip smiling, "I'm so incredibly happy," he pulled May into a hug.   
"But I do need to tell you something." She frowned, "what did Tony do?" Peter back up, "nothing, nothing I swear..he helped." 

"Are you happy?" Hope rolled her eyes, "of course I am," she flicked a switch, typing code rapidly, "we're getting Mom back." She turned to her dad, holding his hand tightly, his finger flashed to smooth the golden wedding band on her finger, "I'm glad your mother will be able to see you wear that, she always took it off, just in case. So you could have it when the time came." 

Hope's eyes hovered on the tanned space on Hank's finger where his wedding band used to be, "thank you for giving Scott a chance." Hank shrugged, "nah, I'm not going to need it, 'cause of you being all buddy, buddy with Stark I'll be getting the real thing back soon." Hope smiled, "we're getting her back." 

"Are you happy," Stephen asked in the crook of Tony's collar bone. Tony glared at the evening sun, locking his fingers with the taller man.   
"Why wouldn't I be," he whispered, "I have everything I've ever wanted."

**Author's Note:**

> Questions, comments, concerns?


End file.
